4.5 ⭐️

Very obsessed with pretty much everything about this book and I would very much like to be on Sylina's death list.

As I've come to expect, Carissa crafts a vivid world with rich lore, making the supernatural elements feel both fresh and believable. All the characters were well developed and fleshed out, making us gripped by their actions and possibilities.

4.5 rounded up!

Incredible book. I loved this book. So unique with the FMC being blind. She has given her sight up for her goddess and is sent to kill the Vampire conqueror…but not all is as it seems!

I really hope we get to meet these characters again!

Maybe I haven’t been in the right mindset, or maybe I was too hyped for this (which I’ll admit is true, just like it was for Ashes), but this just didn’t rub me right.
One of the aspects I appreciate about these books is how each one expands on a world that already feels massive, fleshing out its bleakness even more. I go weak in the knees for a world with jaws.
I also go weak in the knees for pain, and angst, and yearning, and this is where this book fell flat for me. Everything happens too quickly. The characters aren’t given time to breathe and grow and develop. Maybe Sylina, but even she halts at a given moment only to then lurch to the ending.
I didn’t get any chemistry between Sylina and Atrius, mostly because he felt so flat and bland he may as well have been pizza Margherita; vanilla ice cream; unseasoned chicken. Shit was going down and my man was simply going along for the ride, no agency whatsoever besides the bare minimum required for the plot.
What can I say besides this felt rushed? There were SO MANY cool things I wished we would have lingered on and dissected. And, yes, I know the focus is the romance BUT that doesn’t mean I don’t get to feel a little disappointed.

Thank you Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the eARC.