This is a cute little book, but nothing special on my eyes. I enjoyed Rath more than I did Finn. I don't tend to love super crybaby/clingy characters, so that's on me a little bit. I liked the side characters a lot too! I wish we'd learned more about the barbarian culture and gods and stuff, but hopefully that happens in future books.

I had a delightful time reading this book. It took me a while to gather my thoughts, but I'm finally ready to put them into words. Not all of them are positive, but most of them are.

I loved Tam and Nicolau. They were such a fun pair to read about. But I also liked them individually. They are the epitome of grumpy/sunshine, in the best way. I enjoyed the side characters too, especially Kel. He was so funny, and so was Tam's reaction to him. I loved the gods and how they watched everything happening like it's their favorite TV show (I would do the same, honestly). I may have related a little bit too much to Tam, as a somewhat... prickly... person myself, and therefore, I feel a little bit protective of him.

And it is for that reason that I didn't latch onto the plot as well as I could have. Tam had undoubtedly done things wrong and his character growth was needed, but I felt like everyone else in the story shucked any responsibility they had. We find out pretty early on in the book that Nicolau bullied Tam pretty relentlessly throughout their teen years, contributing to Tam's intense dislike of him, but it's brushed off by Nicolau as "pulling your pigtails" because he liked Tam, and it is never brought up again. Even when Tam asks for an apology, he doesn't bring it up either, just wants an apology for his marrow being smashed.

That's another thing—the marrow. While it is a funny premise and I understand it being the start of Tam's dislike for Nicolau, I felt like it took up way too much space in the story. I think Tam had way more legitimate (for lack of a better word) grievances with Nicolau—like the bullying—that were ignored in favor of this.

Switching gears here, I felt like I got the occasional whiplash from the very antiquated setting and the modern dialogue. It wasn't every line of dialogue, but there were some that stood out to me, like when Nicolau described a memory as a "long line of italicized exclamation points". I feel like one more round of editing could have caught those types of inconsistencies and tweaked them to be more in line with the setting.

I know my complaints seem to be a lot longer than my praises, but that's because I always have more to say about negative things—I'm like Tam in that way. I do this with almost everything I love because I see the potential for greatness so clearly and, with just a little push (from me, who has perfect ideas), it can get there. So when I say I truly had a great time, I mean it, even if I'm being very critical.

My favorite scene is when Tam first leaves the village on foot and he stops at a bridge in the countryside and talks to Angarat. Not only because

Tam calling Angarat a bitch is iconic

, but because Tam finally has a safe space

to air out all his grievances

. It is followed closely by

Nicolau praying to Idunet after Tam rides him and then offers to do it again

. Same, Nicolau.

The ending also tickled me. I loved that Nicolau was able to understand the underlying meaning of Tam's (literal) downward spiral and accompanying ramblings. It felt like such a sweet ending to the internal struggles they faced throughout the entire story. It felt a bit abrupt so I wish we'd gotten another chapter or even an epilogue (I admit this may be my greed talking), but that's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.

I want to give a quick little shout-out to the setting of this book. It really intrigued me and it's way more fleshed out than I was expecting for a silly little romance. If you love Gaelic mythology and worlds inspired by it, I think you should give this book a shot! 

Sei is such a good protagonist, actually.

He's smart but not oblivious. He's knows Aresh likes him. I enjoy that the author actually made him that way, as an oblivious book-smart person is one of my least favorite tropes.

And Aresh is so sweet too. I'm definitely becoming more attached to them. 

The story is definitely more interesting now than it was at the beginning. I am happy it's picking up, and the romance is moving along nicely too. I'm actually so obsessed with them now. 

It's only getting better! I like the development of the main character's relationships. Aresh is such a mother hen when it comes to Sei, which is just so cute.

I'm looking forward to when he finally realizes he's in love with him... haha...

A little fast paced, but I like it quite a bit, actually. I like how the author didn't just gloss over this guy being able to understand the language of the world he was summoned to—we don't understand it yet because Sei doesn't, but it's something he is thinking about and trying to figure out, which I appreciated. I hope we get to learn more about it in the future! The art is amazing as well, so expressive. 

2 stars may be a little harsh here, but I was not having a good time by the end of the book. First of all, this book is supposed to be about fox shifters. However, they barely even shift, and the main couple never shift together at all. Why even make them shifters then? To justify their love of chicken? You could do that with a non-shifter omegaverse story, which this should have been.

I understand that this was self-published, so I can usually overlook a few spelling errors here and there, but this was more than that. I felt like there were so many spelling errors that the only explanation is that the author didn't even do a reread before publishing it. For example, there's a city in the story called Reynard, but sometimes it's spelled Raynard. Or vice versa? I'm really not sure what the actual spelling is supposed to be, because it flip-flops so much. There's also a lot of formatting errors, especially around quotations.

I also felt like the pace of the story was extremely fucked up at the end. The story jumped around a lot without giving actual timeframes for things. New elements in their sex lives were introduced without fanfare—like the roleplaying. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with that, but when we see them roleplaying for the first time, it's clear they've done it multiple times before and enjoyed it. But this story is supposed to be about them getting together. It doesn't make sense to skip from their first times together to this experienced roleplay. 

The smart thing to do would have been to make the

spa day

their first actual roleplay. Then at the end, have Axel

promise to roleplay as a firefighter for him in the future, which turns into the epilogue

. It would make WAY more sense. 

I did enjoy that there was no third act breakup or any unnecessary, drawn-out miscommunication. That's why I'm not giving the book less than 2 stars. It won some points from me there. 

I don't know if I'm making a lot of sense here. I'm probably not. I just didn't have a fun time. I wouldn't really recommend this one, especially if you are looking for a shifter romance, as this isn't one, despite the blurb. 

I honestly don't have much to say about this book that's not effusive praise. I have no reason to be giving this a 4 stars instead of 5 other than it just didn't give me that 5-star feeling. It's nothing to do with the quality of the book—the characters, setting, worldbuilding, prose, and plot are all top notch. If I have one complaint, it is that the ending felt rushed and didn't make a lot of sense. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't understand how

the people of Tiran knew what was happening at the end with the images of the blight. It seems like everyone understood what was happening, which doesn't make much sense to me as the author made it a point to explain that laypeople don't really understand how magic works.

I really enjoyed that this book leaned heavily into the academia part of dark academia and didn't just use it as an aesthetic. The magic system was so interesting and unique; I've never seen anything like it. Be warned: the ending was incredibly sad, but also hopeful. I also loved the romance

but you should be ready to cry your eyes out

. The plot twist was done well too—just enough telegraphing to let most of us figure it out, but still heartwrenching all the same. 

If you like morally grey characters, dark academia and incredibly unique magic systems, this should be your next read. I'm mostly surprised you haven't read it already, given the hype.

I find myself not having a lot to say about this book. I found the writing style to be extremely bland throughout. At first, I thought this might just be a remnant of the fact that this is a translated novel; having finished the book, I believe instead that it's deliberate as a way to get into the mindset of our sociopathic main character. Still, I didn't find it that enjoyable to read. 

I did find it interesting how culture norms seem to have shifted drastically over the last 80 years, from having coffee and a cigarette during your love one's vigil being a moral failing to vigils not even really being a thing anymore. The racism, sexism, and domestic abuse? Not so interesting. I suppose it's part of Merusault's sociopathy, though. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a beautiful contradiction. That might not make a lot of sense, but I'll try to explain: the language is dense and flowery but the story is not. The story is meandering and slow-paced but the language races from thought to thought, like a never-ending stream of consciousness. I completely understand the urge to give this book 5 stars, list a bunch of (admittedly gorgeous) quotes, and move on. However, I just don't feel like I can do that. The beginning of this book dragged on and on. It took me forever to get through the first 60%, and only a few days to get through the last 40%. The last little chunk is where the book really kicked into gear and events actually started to happen.

That is not to say the first 60% is without merit. It is a fantastic character study of a young man that gets sucked into the vortex of depravity. Even though this book was written over 130 years ago at this point, it is still an apt examination of grooming, the ways it can happen, and what it does to a person. The relationship between Dorian and Lord Henry was legitimately uncomfortable to read at times. It made me feel glum. I do recognize that this is the point, however. Dorian's corruption isn't supposed to sit right with us, and there are no good people in this story.

I do have one other major grip with the book...

how does Sybil know Dorian's name?! She only called him Prince Charming previously and her brother made a huge deal about her not even knowing his name, but after she acts badly, she suddenly knows it?

I will not ignore plot holes even for revered classics!

I supposed we are supposed to infer that he told her his name at some point and maybe she decided to keep it a secret? But we really should have been told this information, considering how often Wilde goes on tangents about other useless information.

I can appreciate what this book did for literature as whole, and especially queer literature. I was honestly surprised at how gay this book was from the very beginning—although I probably shouldn't have been, given the circumstances of Oscar Wilde's trial and death. I can appreciate that there are no heroes in this story. The way Dorian goes from being corrupted to corrupting those around him is extremely well done, and once again, great commentary on the human condition that still rings true today. I can appreciate that the prose is stunning (I highlighted so much of this book). My favorite passage is quite long; it is about the wish to wake up to a world that is different than how you left it. Wilde is a master at using language to set the scene so vividly, as if he was painting it in our minds. 

This is just something to keep in mind: if you read this book, there is likely going to be a lot of references and words you don't know. I know this was true in my case. I am not holding this fact against the book—in fact, I quite enjoyed this aspect, although it did slow me down—but I am saying this is something most people will have to prepare for. I was often taking 20-30 minute breaks every other page to go on a deep dive into one historical event or other. I would also recommend tandem reading this book with the audiobook. Hearing the words out loud really helps when the language is as archaic as this.

I do believe everyone should at least try to read this book. It took me a while to really get into it, but once I did, I had a great time. The book leaves you with a lot of think about, even this far removed from when it was written. 

P.S. This has taught me that my 12 classics in 12 months challenge might be harder than I thought. 😫