The Crack at the Heart of Everything

Good for a debut - I look forward to reading more from this author.

I really, really liked this book. I stayed up far too late finishing it, heart in my throat, racing toward a hoped-for happy ending that felt impossible—and while I won't spoil the way it played out, I'll just say that I wasn't at all left disappointed. Even the ending for Lore, the devastating Dark Lady at whose behest Orpheus ravaged the world, felt fitting and satisfying.

There are a lot of tropes that can and probably will be applied to this book—grumpy/sunshine, villain redemption, antagonists to lovers, et cetera—but the story is so much more than tropes. At no point was I able to confidently predict what would happen next. The dropped-into-the-action beginning left me initially a bit confused, but after about the first chapter I got my bearings and started to become fully immersed in this strange, dark, fascinating world—which leaves some unanswered questions about its history and nature lurking in the background, but not so many that I was unable to enjoy the storyline and characters.

Recommended for anyone interested in character-driven, dark-but-sweet queer love stories about making amends and finding your place in the world.

(I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)