howlinglibraries's reviews
1719 reviews

I'm so sad to say, after how much I loved the first book in this series (both times that I read it!), I'm setting this one down at about the 20% mark. Frankly, I'm very bored and even more confused. I might try this one again sometime, but I doubt it.

 Okay, this was so much fun. This was my first Santana Knox book and definitely won't be my last! I LOVED the setting, loved the religious/Satanic themes, and adored the twins, Felix and Corvin. Romina was fine as a main character — not a new favorite — and I wasn't a huge fan of Sonny due to his stunted emotional development lol, but Felix and Corvin definitely made up for it imo. More than anything, though, I was just enthralled by this whole near-future dystopian "religion has destroyed the world" vibe the plot revolved around.

This is definitely one of the more spicy books I've read, so if you're looking for a steamy dark romance with a very unique plot, I highly recommend picking this one up! 

 This is probably one of my favorite witchcraft books I've read so far! It covers a lot of information that is mostly going to pertain to beginners, but it paints some of it in a new, refreshing light. While I was already pretty familiar with most, if not all, of the content in this book, I was still able to learn some new ideas. It's also a really validating read that focuses heavily on relying on your intuition and avoiding gatekeeping thought processes, which I think is especially beneficial for new witches nowadays. I feel like the online witchy community can sometimes be incredibly difficult to find your place in and a lot of people like to push their personal ideals and values on others, so it was refreshing to read a book that took such care to remind the reader that there is no one "right" way to be a witch. I also feel like this would be a great reference tool for basics such as color correspondences, crystals, and more. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in comfortable, accessible witchcraft!
 

 What a gorgeous, unsettling, heart-wrenching collection of stories. This book won't be for the faint of heart; it contains a tremendous amount of difficult content and is layered with endless metaphors for rape culture, colonization, racism, and more — but if you feel comfortable taking it on, it will be well worth your time.
 

 I gave up around the halfway point, but I read enough of this book to feel comfortable with rating it and giving a brief review. I'm fascinated by rabies and wanted to learn more about it, but by the halfway mark, I'm fairly certain 75% or more of what I'd read actually had little to do with actual rabies cases. It's one thing to look at the potential link between rabies in olden times and werewolf lore; it's another thing entirely to go on a wordy tangent for pages on end about werewolf stories.

I'm bored. 

 

I might have loved this even more than the first book. Selene and Memnon are such fun characters to follow! The stakes feel ever higher as Selene's feelings for Memnon develop (return?), plus we got a ton of backstory in this installment that made me cherish their relationship so much more.

Also... Memnon is about to give Pestilence a run for his money for the champion title of my favorite Laura Thalassa love interest 😍