River of Shadows

These fantasy-mythology-infused romance books have got me 10000 times more excited to read than ever, and it's a testament to Halle's strength that she was able to write about grief after experiencing her own. While that's a 5 star from me for pure will and strength, the story itself is also 5 stars, and you can BET that I will be reading more Underworld Gods. Halle, you've made a reader outta me, and I'm a loyal one. Thank you for writing this beautiful book that made me feel alllll the feels.

I absolutely adored the adventure of the story and learning more about some Finnish mythology. That being said, 1/4 of the book in a row is basically one rough sex scene after another. I don't mind a good sex scene, but after a while I found myself skimming because I wanted to get back to the interesting world and story behind it all. Definitely ends on a cliffhanger, which the writer warns you about in the content warning, and it leaves me with hope that perhaps the sequel will have a better balance. Probably should have given it 3 stars, but I do love the adventure side of it so much.

MC is infuriating and stupid.

This book was far too short and was very much a setup book. The focus was on Death and Hanna's relationship with minimal plot outside your standard Beauty and the Beast storyline. The last 10 pages are when the plot came and I cannot wait to continue.