This is purely a personal taste DNF. The characters and writing just weren't quite hitting it for me. I love me some Finnish folklore but it felt like you could have put any sort of fantastical/mythical characters in their places and it be the same thing -- after reading and loving The Mercies, this book does not hold up in comparison. (if you are looking for a sapphic tale set in a similar time period and setting, i recommend that instead!! stunning beautiful gorgeous)

I put it down at 59% and couldn't find the motivation to pick it up again. 

I personally don't vibe with romance novels with directionless MC. I could maybe have stuck it out but Erin is acting like a child instead of a 30 year old woman lmao. That may be the point, it's just not a story for me.

I really wanted to love this. I tried look past the problematic elements and the wooden characters and just immerse myself in a sweeping fantasy world.

But then my least favourite trope (

time travel 😭

) reared its ugly head and I lost the ability to care. I get why it's a classic but it's just not worth trudging through 100 pages to finish. Alas!

I got 100 pages in and it felt like nothing was happening. I personally prefer MCs with a direct focus, which also may contribute to this feeling of the book just... wandering.

I also found the random fact spam and monster porn aspects kinda shoehorned in. Apparently there is such a thing as "too quirky" for me, eep.

I wanted to like this book so badly. After struggling at the start, I soon found myself invested in the world and in Xingyin's journey.

However, as we progressed, I found the way it engaged with political and moral issues to be undercooked? Even juvenile maybe? Considering the YEARS of training and high quality education Xingyin received, there seemed to be no indication of growth or depth to her. It felt a little YA to me — not in a bad way, but in that it was so simplistic.

Knowing I have another book after this one, I dediced to cut my losses and DNF'd at 46%.

trying to explain she would be safe LIVING with him as an employee while simultaneously imagining ripping her jeans off. yikes, the vibes are not vibing

Second book I tried by her and I just don't mesh with her writing style. Alas!!!!

I made the mistake of looking at reviews part-way into reading this. Came for Mike, but struggled to get past the hotel scenes. I enjoyed the challenge of understanding the language and politics introduced, but there were a few parts of the story that were giving me the "ick" -- reviews seem to indicate they will continue to be a problem the deeper I go. 

May give it another go in the future, but for now there are other books I want to prioritize. 

Could not get past the writing style. I wish the author would trust us to infer information instead of laying it out explicitly in every single paragraph. Exhausting. 

Realizing that I'm only really interested in a very narrow slice of the Romantasy genre. I really wasn't meshing with the characters nor was I compelled by the worldbuilding -- especially knowing there are 2 other books after this. Just not for me. <3