I went into this book with no knowledge of what it was about. I just always saw it on list of "I see you've read this book, you might enjoy Caraval." Finally, I sat down to listen to this book, thanks to Overdrive, and wow. I really enjoyed this book. I was really drawn into the magic of the world, and the rules that magic follows.

After finishing this book, I realized that everything this book was, was what I wanted "The Night Circus" to be. I wanted to be completely transported into a different world where magic is real and beautiful, and I didn't feel that with the other book, but I felt like that with "Caraval." It hurts to say that because I don't want to compare the two books, but it is how I felt. Everything "Caraval" had is what I thought I'd be getting from "The Night Circus."

I enjoyed this book, and can't wait to finish the series. It isn't my favorite, but it is certainly very enjoyable and I've already recommended it to friends to read.

I listened to this book on audible and really love the narration; however, I feel as a whole, this book is very weak. While the premise is just fine and interesting enough, I felt like the author had no voice. It felt like he was trying to copy someone else's style and voice instead of finding his own. I also felt like there were so many unnecessary parts of the book that didn't need to be there. I found myself bored, if not for the great narration. In addition, the addition of the female elf was only there to feed some quota. She did nothing in the book, which was so disappointing. I could never recommend this book to my female friends because there are no strong female characters to follow. Luckily, there was no toxic masculinity, which I am very grateful for. So while the female characters were lacking, the male characters that didn't fit the stereotypes so many "strong" male characters fall into. However, it wasn't enough for me to give a high rating.