We clutch each other and North stares at me, his breathing hard and irregular. "Miss Locke," he says, "you are terrifying."

And pious North smiles when he says it.

this took me completely by surprise!! while I'd been curious about this one for a while, I ended up just tossing it in my cart on a whim, thinking at the very least I'd get a fairly generic easy-read fantasy out of it. but it was so much more than I expected! much more complicated & mature, and i'm honestly baffled by people calling it cliche because please tell me the last time we got a villain like Bryn, who's as involved with the plot and the protagonist as Bryn. bryn whom i love and hate in equal measure

the magic system was...confusing as all hell, and was still being explained in increments all the way to the end, but it was so neat and felt so weirdly real for all its conditions and possibilities and messiness.

i'm glad to finally know about it and if I can get my hands on the elusive sequel then I'll gladly dive right into it.

There's an untamed, tragic beauty to the way the world dies.

( )