I found this to be absolutely terrible. Not only did I find the writing  inexperienced, the MMC is incredibly unlikable — and lowkey a disgusting, sexist creep — when he isn't supposed to be. 

The story is set in the 1840s, but only the FMC sounds like she's from the past, her formality and propriety constantly a joke to the MMC. There's a completely useless romance subplot, which mostly consists of them not talking about it and the FMC constantly blushing. The whole thing with the MMCs past (the reason and manner he was disowned) made zero sense, and the villain of the story is mind-numbingly stupid. Add to that the convenient ending where it turns out that

Merritt is a wizard

and you have yourself a hot mess of a book.

I will not continue the series, but I sincerely hope that Baptiste gets his cow and chickens.

I really enjoy reading about historical events about which I know nothing, and given that historical fiction is one of my favourites, I really should read more of it.

This was such an enjoyable, emotional read. The story is no doubt heartbreaking, all the abuse described infuriating, this incredible evil so difficult to comprehend, but I thought the author did a good job telling it. The writing was nice, although I found myself missing some depth and complexity. Same goes for all the little subplots found here. I wish at least one of them had been more prominent, but they were all in the background and dealt with very briefly. I would have liked to spend more time with Elodie after she was released, to read about how she coped in a world that was entirely new to her, but since the novel spans decades, I guess there wasn't a good way to do that.

Rebecca Ross first appeared on my radar with The Elements of Cadence duology, which I read in 2022 and still haven't been able to shut up about (sorry, friends). 

So naturally, I was really excited for this duology as well, but it was just nowhere near the same level for me, and I'm utterly disappointed. Even though I really liked the first 30% or so of the book, it didn't save this story because the root of the issue is much deeper for me. 

The entire time I felt as if it just didn't add up or make sense, as if the basics of the story were still undeveloped. I wasn't convinced of the backstory, and the whole premise of

Enva appearing to Iris and others in dreams and the goddess herself doing nothing about the war for all this time was such a disappointment. There was no reason why Iris had to be the one to learn about the sword. She could have told literally anyone in the first days of the war how to kill Dacre, but instead she let the streets fill with innocent blood.

There were other moments that made me scratch my head, such as

why Dacre never wondered why Shane would have Roman's confession.

I also didn't feel the affection I felt for Iris and Roman in the first book. I actually didn't feel a connection to anyone because it was a jumbled mess. The way the characters kept remembering recent moments and then acting surprised because it felt like ages ago was frequent and annoying. And her writing, which I loved in Cadence, felt incredibly forced at times. 

This was a wonderful experience from beginning to end, and I cannot wait to continue the story of Emily and Wendell in the sequel.

Emily is a character who, I think, many readers will misunderstand. While I never disliked her, it took a while for her to truly grow on me, and I loved how this brought my experience nearer to that of the villagers. Admittedly, she owes much of that to Wendell, who, you could say, has completely enchanted me. Their characters complement each other incredibly well, both retaining their distinct voices throughout the story.

This book was nothing what I expected, and considering what I usually like, I should not have enjoyed it, but it was such a pleasure to read.

Based on the blurb, I expected something dark and mysterious, a family full of intrigue and teeming with secrets, perhaps even a villainous character, but there's none of that here. Somewhere in the middle I did wish for something more, as the plot was actually quite sparse and slow, but I came to really appreciate it as I neared the conclusion. I also found myself really loving the characters and my heart ached for Lou as she tried to ignore her feelings for Robert. They didn't even have that many encounters, but they just worked and their chemistry was sparking. Wood's prose is delightful, too, and I'm impressed at her skill of doing so much with very little.

This was way too much drama and evil for some apples. Almost everyone in this book is rotten to the core and needs to get a life.

Aside from the characters, the writing just wasn't that great. The first 25% felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again, as it kept rehashing the same information and depicting the same emotions and thoughts. There were parts where the wording was so confusing I found myself editing the sentences in my head. I got the impression the author was trying way too hard to make it sound complex, but the result was just messy. It didn't help that she constantly kept describing characters' breathing – everyone was either letting out a long or painful or tense or whatever breath, holding their breath, forgetting to breathe, unable to breathe, finally taking a breath and so on. It happened so frequently and once I noticed it, it drove me up the wall. A lot of paper could have been saved had they cut out all the mentions of breath and the needless repetition in the first 25%.

The only thing this book has going for it was the delightfully dark atmosphere, but I wish the magic of the island had been utilised more.

It must take tremendous skill to make a story about a murderous couple so incredibly boring. The characters were flat and the story was just slowly meandering, not really giving me anything but annoying repetitions, as if the author didn't have enough to write a full story. It probably would have made a better novella. I read how the rest of the story plays out and nothing about it surprises me. That's exactly what I thought would happen. Predictability isn't always a bad thing, but there must be something to keep me interested and this book had nothing.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

This was such an enjoyable story. T. Kingfisher's atmosphere and characters never fail.

I really don't have anything good to say. The writing was simplistic, which is weird considering this is the 21st book in this series, so both writers should be better at this, but I think we all know it's quantity over quality with these.

The characters didn't feel real, and nor did their relationships. I don't know any women (or anyone, for that matter) who go around high-fiving each other as a form of greeting or otherwise. It felt like it was written by someone who has never known friendship... or human relationships.

The pacing was all over the place. Most of the story dragged and was drawn out, but the ending was extremely rushed to the point the book feels unfinished, like my copy had a good chunk ripped out at the end.

The story itself was a trainwreck, too. I don't know how any reader can view these characters as professionals when they messed up this badly. There was no rhyme or reason to their actions.

Going after the husband

didn't make any sense, it just made them all look like idiots, which I guess they were, even though it was never addressed (because, again, the book is unfinished).

This was my first in the series and by both authors, and it will be the last. I don't mind simple popcorn entertainment and I am definitely not hard to please when it comes to thrillers, but there were no redeeming qualities here.