DNF @ 35% - you might be thinking, “what the heck is wrong with you shannon?? this is a leigh bardugo book and you can’t even get past 30%?” reader, that is absolutely correct …

if there’s one thing I adore about leigh’s writing, it’s her world building. this time, in historical early spain during the late eras of witchcraft (boo) and christian savor worship (yay), our story surrounds a maid, luiza, who knows how to perform magic. except, it’s never really talked about, other than she has a weird family….

and don’t get me started on the cast of characters. for someone who is the QUEEN of writing unique lovable characters, they were all sullen, bland, and pretty much the evilest of evil of historical fiction. I couldn’t even find myself rooting for luiza as she barely even wanted to fight for herself…

I fear this one just didn’t hit the spot for me, and that’s mostly due to the characterization and lack of compelling story for me. however, I do adore leigh’s writing style, despite the fact it felt more like poetry than actual descriptive sentences sometimes.