TW: drug and alcohol abuse; child abuse and neglect; suicide attempt; self harm

This was not at all what I was expecting from the synopsis. This reads more like a contemporary YA novel about a teen with a rough home life and family dynamics that copes with drugs and alcohol. The magical elements only came into play 80% of the way into this first book, with 2-3 short instances before that where our main character assumes he’s just too drunk or high. I was mostly bored by this, as I didn’t care much about his day to day life and kept waiting for the magic and folklore elements to start. I don’t plan to continue with this series but I’d watch the coming adaptation to see how they bring the world to life more.