This was a pretty dang decent fantasy novel.

I really liked the pacing of the world-building, it never felt info-dumpy to me and it never made me sit there wondering "what on earth are they talking about? I don't know anything about that yet." And I think that says a lot about a fantasy novel and the author. Usually world-building always leaves something to be desired.

This world was cool and had cool creatures (which is always a major selling point for me).

I did wish for a bit more characterization though. I really am such a character-driven reader. You gotta make me fall totally in love with them. Don't get me wrong, these were not flat or boring characters, I just wanted a bit more. Especially when it came to the romantic development. I just wished for a teeny scooch more.

There were times when I could tell it was written by a man (I usually try to stay away from books written by men because they tend to be offensive and infuriating, the girlies know what I'm talking about and the exact kinds of scenes I am referring to - there are entire reddit threads dedicated to it), but this wasn't offensive, just weird at times (that could just be a personal thing).

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.