“Love is the most powerful magic. Above all else, remember that. It will always guide you where you need to go.”

A dark and immersive YA fantasy with plenty of friendship and family, and a hint of romance. I loved some things about this book but unfortunately found some other things lacking.

⇢The Setting
Kerri Maniscalco is the queen of writing immersive books, and that was no different in this case. Right from the start, I felt like I was right alongside Emilia, and it was easy to picture all of the different places she visited.

On the other hand, as much as I loved the ambiance, I found the world-building to be a bit lacking. I know that there’s definitely still room for that in book two, but for some reason, the setting felt limited. I would have liked for there to be a bit more explanations when it came to the human world, especially considering the next book will focus a lot more on the demon kingdoms as far as I can tell.

⇢Emilia and Wrath and the Other Characters

I know this is a weird thing to say after reading an entire book, but I honestly feel like I don’t know all that much about the characters in this novel. Emilia is by far the person we know the most about, but I think that since her only goal throughout this book was to find her sister that prevented us from really learning who she was outside her of her family. I hope that in the next book we’ll learn more about her hobbies (aside from reading) and motivations and goals outside of her sister.

“A good book was its own brand of magic, one I could safely indulge in without fear of getting caught by those who hunted. I loved escaping from reality, especially during times of trouble. Stories made everything possible.”

Also, on the topic of Emilia’s family, was it only me who found it weird that Emilia’s grandmother started out with a huge role and it seemed like she would be a main character and then we barely saw her? And Emilia’s parents basically did nothing? I mean, that’s not going to make me reduce my rating but it was still weird.

As for Wrath, I can say that he definitely made the story more interesting, but I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM. I NEED MORE. Like he has so many stans so I guess I expected to know more?? Maybe that was the point, but he’s a complete mystery still and I can’t really decide if I like him or not until I know more. However, his and Emilia’s banter was amazing. Maybe not as iconic as Audrey Rose and Thomas’, but still really fun.

“One day you'll call me Death.
For now, Wrath will do.”

And the rest of the princes… once again, nada. I know we only saw a few of them but even those, I can barely tell apart and just want to know more.

⇢The Plot
The beginning of this book was pretty slow, and while it picked up a little, I found it dragged for the most part. Maybe that was just me…

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