I can't believe I waited this long to read this book. B.r. Kingsolver is growing as an author beautifully and you can really tell in the quality of the writing. (if you've followed her previous works). There was still a sentence or three where I felt the way the words was arranged was off but god. Talk about world building.

I absolutely loved the world building. I loved how throughout the book we kept getting more and more tidbits and fleshed out the world, the history, and the society.

And now, for the spoilers.

Spoiler

This book is breaking all the stereotypes. They introduce an attractive new partner, just for there to be 0 love interest between the two. Despite the fact that there was a scene with a grandmother who was OBVIOUSLY plotting a love interest between the two.
And then, AND THEN, they introduce a hot demon who gives the main character scoarching orgasms JUST TO REMOVE HIM ENTIRELY AT THE END OF THE BOOK! WHAT?? breaking the rules! female MC and no love interest in the end?

I loved that the MC was competent and good at her job, sarcastic without being an asshole to everyone she meets. (tho she was to some). I loved that other beat cops respected her, because she did the job and didn't get caught up in politics. While other higher ups who DID care about politics absolutely hated her. (atleast one or two). I loved how her name was infamous but not everyone cared about it.
It was like a magically balance I didn't know I needed.

I loved this book. I'm a big fan of urban fantasy, and this.. isn't strictly urban fantasy I know. It's Rural Fantasy, but the sub-genre of Rural Fantasy is pretty small so most of the books just fall under the UF umbrella. And generally, the themes, niches, and feels of both tends to be pretty familiar. With Rural having more cozy reads than the big city normally does. But, as I said, I'm a big fan. And I loved this one. It was good. The type where I read it in one setting and dread the upcoming end of what seems to be a standalone book.

It has all the makings of an typical urban fantasy. There's been a murder, the lead is kind-of investigating, sleuthing off on her own and sometimes with a cop. Tho she isn't as interested in solving the murder as she is in freeing her dead brothers spirit.

See, we already know who the bad guy is here. 10 years ago Britta and her family fell under the gaze of a pretty wicked witch. Said witch then stalked the family, made friends with the family, and then sacrificed them all in a spell. Only, it didn't quite go as she planned. Britta survived, and got away, and got turned into an immortal werewolf in the process.

She's back in town because said witch has just been murdered and the cops are asking for her assistance, for reasons that isn't quite clear to her seeing as her alibi is iron-tight and she isn't a suspect.

I loved this book, it felt like an urban fantasy mixed with horror of a haunted house and werewolves who weren't furry little creatures but actually kind of morbid and dark. It had chapters of flashbacks to 10-years-ago of how this all went down, and I normally hate flashbacks. We already know they died, so why bother rehashing this? But the flashbacks tell the tale of how the kind of dysfunctional family moved into a new house with a very friendly neighbour and how creepy things just kept adding up. Britta has lived with the survivors guilt for 10 years, and usually these things are pretty lame (in my own humble opinion), they're never justified right? But the flashbacks end up showing that Brittas guilt is.. kind of justified. She wasn't exactly a naive teenager at the time, she was 24 (iirc).

I loved what the book did with werewolves, and also.. the matebond. Werewolves is pretty overdone, and very often there is mates. Also, very overdone. This book never came out and said "he's her mate" but there were enough hints there that made me, as the reader, speculate that "he's probably her mate". But instead of throwing this book into a typical whirlwind of romance and lust, not only is there a twist, but the MC keeps a cool head over any weird feelings (or smells). She even goes off and let some steam off with some strange dude, because.. that's what a normal sexually active 21 century woman does these days when the urge comes around and an opportunity presents itself.

There are only two major cons: The fucking ending.
And an bizarre amount of mentions of her red shoes.

The ending?
I should give this book a one star just out of pure spite. That definitely counts as a cliffhanger ending, AND it's not even an announced series. I'm fuming. FUMING. I've been wanting this to be a series for quite awhile back (in the book), and was prepared to be kinda disappointed by the end (because it wouldn't be a series) but the ending just.. wasn't one. Not really. and I am angry. Like lets-send-rant-mail-to-the-author-and-lets-get-the-pitchforks-out type of angry. The last 2% of the book definitely should have been stretched out further, and for the love of god any kind of cliffhanger ending is nonnegotiable to me.