This came recommended from a friend. I was a little confused by the style, because it immediately gave me cozy fantasy vibe with a sprinkle of romance. To me, this genre typically leans on shallow and cheesy. So...there were a few aspects that surprised me! 1 The lust and //mostly closed door/ sex in the third act was a surprise pahah. 2. It verged on on cheesy feminist (like lessons in chemistry) but then sometimes touched on issues of class / intersectional feminism? 3. It verged on a boring cozy romance, but then suddenly introduced this idea of 'false love' being coerced by the vow. 4. I thought the magic was boring (like how many times can you run a spell that tracks where magic has been used -_-) and then suddenly at the end there's a big reveal on how Beatrix has access to a special magic. Anyway, a lot of 'almost boring but just enough spice' moments, but still 3 stars for me. I could be intrigued to read the 2nd book to see how the magic conflict but plays out, but I do NOT care about the romance and have not gotten invested in any of the relationships yet (like, sister-sister relationship could've been complex and interesting here, but instead was just...unexplored? Beatrix does everything that Lydia says?