This book hit me like a truck and.. left me there.

DNF at 67%

This is not a post apocalypse book, or at least 67% of the book isn’t. This is a running-from-a-bad-guy-while-surviving-outdoors-in-the-winter-without-electronics story. Didn’t love.

3.75 for the story, 5 for Julia Whelan’s narration.

3 stars. This was fine. I didn’t love it like the majority of people and that happens from time to time.

I wanted more from this. More action, more world building, more character development, more nightmare, more information on the magical system. Idk, just *more.*

Absolutely bizarre

I just love everything Ashley writes— beauty weaved with magic

This duology should be on everyone’s TBR list. The character development, plot, and pacing were all on point and I just never wanted these books to end. It set a bar that put me in a book slump for what felt like forever. So, be warned.

3.75 stars

I’m glad I finished this, but it didn’t blow me away the way I expected.

The story gets better around the halfway mark, and the ending was solid, especially w how things wrapped up for Wylan. Buuut the subplot w Wylan’s father was confusing. The letters he sent Wylan seemed like they were building to something, but nothing really came of them so it felt unresolved. Out of all of the characters, Nina was my favorite. She and Inej were probably what kept me going w this duology. I also loved seeing S & B characters again. The narrators were excellent, and probably carried the book more than the actual plot did for me.

I still think it’s weird that all the characters are supposed to be teenagers. It makes some of the heavier moments feel off.

Overall, I didn’t dislike the book. It just didn’t fully land for me, especially with how hyped it is. Some good moments, but kind of uneven.

DNF at 78% - 1.5 stars from what I read, and that’s only bc the narrators did a good job and some parts were so ridiculous it was funny, but that got old and now I’m bitter. I should’ve stopped reading instead of trying to barrel through, so that’s on me. I’ll read spoiler reviews to find out the ending. I cannot donate 2 more hours of my life to this

This is not a romance. It’s just not. Truly one of the worst books I’ve read. It’s dumb, nonsensical, boring, and gross. Characters that develop interests in each other bc they share a common rape kink (is it shared? Is it a kink? Is it just rape and we’re all gaslit to believe Addie likes it when most of the text suggests she does not?) doesn’t translate into “dark romance.” We need new labels for trash like this.