Larissa S.

It should have been a duology.

I'm going to give my review of the whole series, because I feel like you should know what you're getting into. The first book is fantastic (if you ignore the infodumping). The second book is still good, but the plot holes start to show. The third book shouldn't exist. It adds nothing and doesn't fit with the other two books. I couldn't even bring myself to finish it.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The magic system is what kept me reading. Not that it's especially great, but it's built around questions and I wanted answers!

The characters on the other hand... They're fine. Elspeth was rash, and all around I felt like the characters made a lot of dumb decisions because the story needed them to. The romance was decent, but the resistance between them felt forced. I wanted the Nightmare to be more active, not just a voice, and I felt like the speed at which Elspeth's degeneration happened was way too quick.

But I did love the ending. I didn't think it was going to go there, but it did, and I liked it.

So like I said, mixed feelings.

I don't usually read inter-generational books, but I've been trying to read outside my comfort zone and this book completely sucked me in. I struggled a bit with all the Hawaiian words, but after the first few chapters I got used to it. I love all the characters, especially Hawai'i, which is very much a character all its own. I'm going to be recommending this book to anyone who will listen.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I think, ultimately, this is a very good book that just wasn't for me.

I'm a character reader, and even though the characters felt well-rounded, they had very little agency. That's not to say that they're not active. They're always doing things and the story moves at a pretty good clip. The problem is that everything is always happening to them. The whole story is: an obstacle gets in their way, and they have to figure out how to make it through. I will say that the obstacles matter to the overall plot, you couldn't just skip past one and keep reading. But they only occasionally lead to any character growth. Also, even though they have different motivations, all the characters on the quest more-or-less get along. There are some surprise twists, but since they're done as twists, they don't add tension during the middle of the book.

All of that said, I absolutely loved the worldbuilding and magic in this book. The jinn and the lore around them are super interesting. The way that the humans and jinn have different lore about the same events is a nice touch. I won't say more because spoilers, but the there are a lot of reveals about the jinn and their magic, as well as about the sultan and his wives, and that did not disappoint.

Overall, I liked the story, but every time I put it down I struggled to pick it up again.

READER NOTE: This book does not have magic. These are witches in the real-life pagan sense.

I seriously considered DNF'ing this in the middle.

I think this book didn't work for me because it's told in two timelines, and there's such a tonal difference between those timelines that it doesn't feel like they belong in the same story. The Chloe story interested me more, because you can really feel the attraction and why Eleanor made the decisions she did and how things spiraled like they did. It's all very dark and angsty. The timeline with Pix felt so bland in comparison. Pix had very little personality and the two of them had no chemistry. Despite Eleanor talking about being sad/anxious/etc. her scenes felt very la-dee-da with Pix and the coven, not like the same girl dealing with the trauma that happened with Chloe. It didn't feel like Eleanor actually dealt with the trauma of her relationship with Chloe. I mean, at least have her give up weed and start going to therapy.

I have a jumble of thoughts about this book, mostly because I kept getting interrupted and taking long breaks, so I have to remember how I felt about it all.

Firstly, the world and magic in this book are SO COOL. The author did a great job with her worldbuilding. Specifically, the magic system seems very simple at the beginning, and we get to learn alongside Aurora as she discovers that maybe magic is more complicated than she thought.

Second, Aurora is great. The first quarter of the book makes Aurora seem very passive, but she's aware that she doesn't know everything, and as she learns things, she's open to them and willing to be wrong. Once you hit the quarter mark Aurora becomes very active, literally running away, and learns so much about the world and storms and other people.

My main gripe with this book is the romance. This felt so clearly like a YA fantasy written by an adult romance author (which is what it is). We start with Aurora meeting Cassius, and they're immediately hot for each other. And then she meets Locke, and they're also immediately hot for each other. (I'm glad that at least she runs away and doesn't interact with Cassius for most of the book, because I hate love triangles.) I liked Locke, so the romance was bearable. But it genuinely felt like the author didn't know how to have them interact without it being lusty. Every single interaction involved them ogling each other, even when they're injured or tired or fighting for their life, they are still caressing fingers and stroking cheeks. It was especially weird because in every other way the author did a great job making it feel YA, particularly in Aurora as this awkward, isolated girl. And then you have these lusty thoughts and it's like, Why are they about to rip their clothes off in my YA novel?

My other, smaller gripe is that the pacing/plot isn't super tight. The book just sort of ends. Not in a cliffhanger kind of way, per se. Which is good because I really hate cliffhangers. It feels a bit like when an episode of a mini-series ends. Not a single thing is wrapped up, but not in a bad way. Like, we've learned a bunch about the world and the magic and Aurora has found her strength and stuff, and now it's time for the next episode.

So, mixed feelings. But the magic was unique enough that I'll probably go look for the next book. Especially with the reveal toward the end.

The worldbuilding is what really carries this book. The different types of vampires and the histories behind them are all so interesting. I did enjoy the characters, though about halfway through I realized that they didn't actually have much in the way of character arcs, so unsurprisingly the ending felt a bit lackluster.

Also, for some reason I had the impression that this was a road trip kind of story, where they're travelling across Mexico and trying to get somewhere. So the fact that they never left Mexico City kind of threw me off. But I would still say I enjoyed this.

Let me start by saying that I've never read Jane Eyre. I do know the basic concept of the story, including the famous twist, but beyond that I wasn't starting this book with any comparison to the source material. Now, to my review:

I loved this book.

Where do I even start? The writing is beautiful and lush, the pace is slow but in a good, simmering kind of way, the romance is great, and the witchiness! Let's start with the romance. Yes, technically this was taken from a beloved novel, so it should be good, but I would still give the author credit here. The little moments between Jane and Mr. Rochester are so well done. I love me a sweet, slow-burn romance.

My next favorite thing is the magic. It's mostly village-witch type magic, with a lot of herb collecting and tincture brewing, but there are also creatures here and there, like dryads and ghosts, that those with the gift can see. The magic is subtle, but it's still present in the story, and Jane is constantly doing little magicks.

This whole book has a slow, leisurely pace, but the writing holds you and keeps you turning the pages. It's not very dark or gothic, which I appreciated. There's a curse/shadow/darkness hanging over the property and the story, but nothing too gruesome happens.

A review in which I am a grump:

This book was very disappointing. It falls in the vein of stories that feel like they're going for cozy and just end up with a weak plot. There were so many holes and the villain was never given any kind of motivation. I did enjoy the twist of the villain's backstory, but it still didn't actually give them a motivation or explain their actions at all.

The worldbuilding was weak sauce. It's just random things put together. We're told early on that people *think* using magic has negative effects, but no one knows for sure--magic just has a bad reputation. And then it's never explored or explained, even though they use magic throughout the story. There's one non-human character, but no others, and no sense of how they fit into society.

Also, the pacing is super weird.

The characters are kind of fun, I'll say that. I did enjoy Prince Hapless, but mostly because his silliness was a breath of fresh air when most love interests are dark and brooding these days. Aurelie was...fine. She doesn't have much of a character arc and most of the plot is happenstance instead of her making decisions. Overall the characters were funny, but lacking depth, and it wasn't enough to make up for everything else.