A trip down memory lane that wasn't as enjoyable as I was hoping. If I didn't have a nostalgia for this book from my teenage years I might not have read this past the first few chapters - any book that has a rendition of Satan as a main character is probably not gonna be my type. It's a puzzling and uncreative choice for the author to have plonked him down in this particular book.

I browsed some negative reviews before reading and I sadly have to agree with many of them, this book dances around some very icky topics in a not-so-graceful way. The relationship between Jaenelle and Daemon is cringey, and his devilishly good looks aren't enough to get me in a tizzy anymore. Everyone has anime-level dramatics and the fantasy world just doesn't feel real, you're given a few city names and that's it. Almost the entire book takes place in Saetan's study or Jaenelle's family manor. The magic system is unique but poorly explained - "No one knows where the Jewels come from" is so lazy, at least put a legend behind it.

Despite its flaws I still liked the book, it was dark and beautiful in its own way and had interesting characters. The ending was especially haunting, and if you can't handle reading about sexual abuse to children you should not read this.