syllareads's Reviews (951)

This was exactly the right book to start 2023 with. I am feeling many gentle emotions right now 

it was really interesting but the physics were too hard on my sick brain and my library hold ran out 😭 will be back for it tho! 

This was definitely high up on my list when it came to personal enjoyment - however, the worldbuilding itself was strenuously done at best (the romance took absolute precedence in the things the author wanted to show on page) and so even the last show-down with the hala, a mythical fox-like creature our main characters wanted to hunt, was less gripping than I think it wanted to be.

The romance between Margaret (Maggie) and Wes was beautiful, as well as the multiple moments where prejudice and cruelty from other people towards them were addressed. I loved their conversations and the slow way they grew to know and love each other!
Chapter one made a horrible impression on me; the sheer info-dumpyness could have IMO been avoided (Maggie's mother being an alchemist and away from home could have easily been covered with the conversation she and Wes had in the chapter directly afterward for instance). It's a bit of a shame given that the first chapter should serve as an introduction to the story and not a bullet point of plot-relevant information we Definitely Should Have Now And Couldn't Have Learned About A Few Chapters Later (hard disagree; some of these tidbits could have very well been introduced far later and it would have been fine!). Chapter one is, however, the worst of the bunch and every other scene does not handle information as badly in my opinion.

Overall, my personal enjoyment was a lot higher this time (I couldn't help but compare it to "Within these Wicked Walls", my previous read; both books seemed to catch my attention for the exact opposite reasons: WTWW had gorgeous worldbuilding and a very interesting magic system all around Ethiopian culture; AFWM gave me the slow pining I had hoped for in WTWW but ultimately didn't get there because some aspects of the dialogues ripped me out of the story faster than I could blink) but some of the choices the author made with the worldbuilding (I was.... honestly shocked to discover there's cars in this world. And PAYPHONES. WHAT??) and the overarching plot meant to bring our MCs together were a bit lacking. I'd nonetheless definitely read something else by this author to see where she goes next!