I needed a few days to process this. This novel is extremely violent, with a lot of graphically described sexual violence, inspired by the weaponized rape by Arab militiamen against Black African women in the Darfur conflict. The story is inherently fantasy with some scifi woven in, and the arch is beautiful and challenging and surprising. I am a huge fan of this author (highly recommend the Binti trilogy) and her extreme creativity in looking at culture, race, and humanity.

I breeze through a lot of paranormal/fantasy romances. They are my guilty pleasure (though no part of me actually feels guilty about that). This one hit different. Some of the lore got a little confusing towards the middle/end, but I really got a kick out of Fallon. She was sassy but in a seemingly believable way. Also the physical depictions felt accurate. That scene in Dante’s tent, not sure I know a single person who hasn’t had an encounter like that - “this is fun, right?” It felt honest and real… you know if fae were real.

This is a good one, though I think it could have used a touch more editing and slightly less length. Claire is an enigma. I’m cheering for her, judging her, annoyed by her, impressed. In sum, she’s like a real person. Aiden rang less true to me, but in all, this is a plot heavy book that still manages deep character development at least from our two mains. The friends, less so. If you’re an art nerd, this is for you.

Eleanor: 5/5 I like Moons prophecy at the end and what “could be.”

Maxwell: 5/5 My favorite part was the cave explosion and the mystery.