A great start to the trilogy; can't wait to see what happens to these characters in the next book. I love that Shelby Mahurin jumps right into the story and builds the world throughout the book. ( )

With a hundred pages left I wasn't feeling the pull, but the wrap up bumped it to decent instead of just ok, and maybe I will end up reading the sequel. See the full review and more at MyBookJoy.com!

Recommended: for specific people
For those really into witchy stuff, for those who want the "hate to love" romance arc, for a story focused on self-discovery

Thoughts:
So. As often with crazily hyped books... I wasn't that impressed. I probably would have waited even longer to read this, but it was a thoughtful gift for Christmas and I was intrigued. In the end this was nearly a 2 star read overall, but a key element of the end bumped it to 3 and made it more likely that I would pick up the next, though not in a hurry. The overall path of reading was like: 4,5,3,2,2,2,3 (that new-read excitement got me hard on this one but helped carry me through).

My gripes are with the romance and the magic. The romance felt abrupt, as the characters only have a few interactions before they're declaring their newfound feelings, and the interactions they had were mostly antagonistic. I can get behind the enemies-to-lovers thing, but I just wasn't wooed by their progression in this case.

When I say I had an issue with the magic, it's primarily that there wasn't enough of it. I came into this expecting a vamped up witchy playground, but instead our MC is repeatedly saying how she's terrible at using her magic and has let herself slip so much. That was pretty underwhelming, even considering the moments where she uses her powers to great success.

There were some really touching moments of self-discovery and self-reflection, and I loved the way the characters learned about themselves through learning about each other. But ultimately, it felt fairly weakly developed. Neither of the MCs were my favorite character, which I think says a lot about my thoughts on them both. The humour often didn't land for me, and the MCs over-the-top defensive uses of it grew tedious pretty quickly.

When it comes down to it, I'm not really sure what I was reading for most of the time. My recollection is that there wasn't much substance, and yet it was over 500 pages. Why??

I did quite enjoy the world and the lore and rules of magic, which is what kept me going, but I wanted more of that. Ultimately the only real reason I finished this (after putting it down for a few weeks and trying to regain interest for the climax) was a vague obligation to the person who gifted it to me. ( )

There's scene that literally brought me to tears. A couple of shockers come out that I should have seen coming but surprised nonetheless. ( )

Neonazi police officer and pick-me minority girl get married. Minority girl admonishes her people and participates in genocide alongside her husband. 1/5

This review is a hodge podge of things, but mostly, it's me railing in on someone's debut novel. I am nothing if not ruthless.



I love a marriage of convenience, but the reason for this one seems flimsy at best. Even when you find out that the Archbishop is Lou's father, like..... I feel like that would instill in him a moral dilemma but ultimately make him want to kill her more?

Whatever. The gotcha reveals in this book feel dumb. On that note, I don't understand why Lou's backstory had to be a secret. To sound edgier? And then get info dumped later? I think we might have benefitted from knowing all along. Then the "twists" wouldn't feel so over the top. But instead it all gets stacked on at once.

AAAANNNYWAY, I won't harp too much on that. Marriage of convenience with two diametrically opposed sides is so much fun,.

Or. It should be. Until there isn't enough back and forth, there isn't enough growth. They just suddenly decide they like each other. The only will they, won't they, is that they are both physically attracted to each other the whole time and it takes them a while to have sex.

The writing is soooo cheesy. The scene where it's revealed that the Archbishop is her father is SO SO SO bad.

And don't get me STARTED on the banter. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that they have sex. Lol. DIRECT QUOTE FROM IMMEDIATELY AFTER CHASS BOY LOSES HIS VIRGINITY:

"I smiled and flicked his nose. 'Well done, you.' "

WELL DONE, YOU??? I'd scream.

Also, a lot of the things that happen just feel improbable and kind of fanfiction-y.

Like her best friend conveniently finds a way to be there the entire time and giggle with her over someone's almost dead body? (see: edgy and tonally dissonant)

The other boy who's cute makes moony eyes at her friend? (because everyone has to be paired up)

And worst of all.

The ellipses. The constant ellipses. I thought it was funny at first, but she did not stop. SO MANY IMPROPERLY USED ELLIPSES!!! ( )

I just knocked this down a star...I couldn’t remember anything about it...at all.
Thank you Read With Cindy for reminding me!!! ( )