Actual Rating 1.5

A big part of what didn’t work with this one was the writing style. We were constantly told rather than shown, with paragraphs of “he did this, then he did that, then he felt like this.” There was no emotional connection to anything due to this, especially since we were only told how the characters felt. Writing choices were also odd: on one page, a character would say “f*ck” then on the next page say “heck.” The language used was also modern, given this work a NA/YA feel.

Aside from all that, this is supposed to be a dark fantasy ranging into horror. Despite some of the darker things that happened, there was no feel of horror, tension, or suspense present. The whole work came off as rather bland, which was disappointing. The characters were flat, underdeveloped, and tropey as well.

While the premise was interesting, it just wasn’t executed well. My thanks to NetGalley and Eeriecast Network for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

2.5*
A cool concept, writing style not for me, Im sure others will enjoy it though.

Felt there was too much thematically inappropriate words or phrasing which made it hard to feel emersed. I also prefer to be shown rather than told which I felt this really suffered from, especially in the prologue which made it feel more YA.

The premise was amazing and the world-building and the plot were exciting; however the flow of the story and the language were not really my cup of tea—I prefer more flowery prose but that's a personal preference!

Entertainment pure and simple! Every page gave you a scene that grabbed your emotions and wrung them dry! Chaos, miscommunication, mischief and misconduct run amok with love and romance struggling to find its niche and succeeding admirably!