It took me almost a year to finish this book. It’s a polarizing novel, you either love it or hate it. The story is built around a bloodthirsty and unapologetically morbid religion and a vengeful woman who commits to the religion whole heartedly. Many reviews have claimed that Hekat is an unlovable character. I disagree. The first half of the book endeared me to Hekat, while the last half left me feeling sorry for her. The prose is atmospheric and full of masterful word choices. However, since the characters are guided by a god, the plot becomes very predictable for a good 300 pages. I believed while reading that Hekat was an untrustworthy narrator in the sense that she did not know her heart as well as she thought she did. Especially with her feelings towards Vortka and her sons. However, her pride never really got in the way of her connection to the god, and she never acted on feelings I felt were there in the subtext. That’s probably what made the book so hard to finish: predictable and repetitive plot points, and unsatisfied expectations. Despite that, it was a very well written book with a lot of interesting lore, and I’ll probably be reading the next one to answer the questions left by this book.