A gothic, fairy-tale-esque fantasy - one of a kind! This book was truly as unique as everyone hyped it to be. The magic system is based on cards, which is kind of hard to get into. But once I understood the magic and pictured intricate tarot cards instead of pokemon ones, I was good to go!

Elpeth and the Nightmare were so loveable! The side characters were well built out, especially going into the second book. I truly enjoyed this and went right into book 2.

My only critique would be - there are 12 types of cards, yet only like 3-4 are talked about in the books. I forget what the other ones even do.... So I find it weird to have 12 and ignore most. I would've liked to hear more about their capabilities. It just makes the duology seem incomplete?