Hot take: this book is bad.

This is a really great example of an extremely simplistic novel meant for romance readers who want a really easy fantasy book to read. There is essentially no depth to this story whatsoever. If you have ever read a genuinely great fantasy novel, it is so hard to get through this drivel. There is real genuine potential in the magic system, but it is not explained at all. The focus is entirely on these two characters which I don’t really care about because through the entire book they’re fighting their feelings for each other, not being honest, and saying “there she is” or “there he is”, which is so unbearably annoying. I’m almost tempted to go through this book and count how many times the phrases “there she is” or “there he is” are written. I mean, could Broadbent not come up for another way to say “I see you beneath this façade you’re hiding behind”? 

This entire book just felt like the level of reading that I was doing in middle school and early high school. No shame to anyone who is still at that level! I still enjoy reading Percy Jackson and books of that caliber. I love Holly Black novels! However, my issue is with authors who do not try to make a story more complex on purpose and that seems like what Broadbent has been trying to do. To assume your audience cannot keep up with more complex language or storytelling does a disservice to them and to the story. I think with more work these stories could have been really great. But as they are now they are not for me, and I will not be continuing with the series.