Melissa Albert continues to be an excellent storyteller. I breezed right through this book.

She writes magical realism & suspense perfectly. Slow burn, cliffhangers that don’t make you realize they’re cliffhangers, you just keep reading. Atmospheric, putting you right in the story.

I appreciated both timelines in this book. I wanted to understand all the characters; powerful women and each flawed in their own ways. I like the intentionality of flawed female characters; they force me to examine my own internalized misogyny. Even the characters you strongly dislike (hi, Ivy. The more I got to know you the more I found myself rolling my eyes), you appreciate and understand the necessary purpose they bring to the plot.

I read this without knowing what it was about, I just knew I loved The Hazelwood and Albert’s writing style, and I’m glad I did it that way because it made the mystery richer.

If you like suspense, witchy stuff and unreliable narrators (who you still root for) with some little love stories squeezed in, I think you’ll love this one. I eat this writing style UP.