~~Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster for the ARC!~~

I did like Where the Dark Stands Still more, but this book was still pretty great.

Poranek's prose is simply magical. Her descriptions and atmosphere, specifically, are crafted so purposely to get you absorbed into the world. Mind you, this is extraordinarily difficult to do with a stand-alone fantasy. Even though the worlds Poranek have made are (initially) terrifying, you cannot help but be swept up by the fantastical mysticism as it comes alive solely through the written word. I just adore Poranek's writing so much.

The characters were such a delight. It took nearly forty percent of the book til we got consistent Odile and Marie interactions because all that time was consumed with the main plot and Odile attempting it to do it all herself, but once they officially form the alliance, their interactions and banter are so good. It nearly makes up for the missing chunk; I only wish they had more buildup between chapter one and that forty percent mark. The side characters like the prince and Odile's brother were interesting, too, and while we got much between Odile and the prince, I do wish the brother wasn't forced away for plot reasons for the majority of the story. Plus, I wanted to see the relationship between the boys play out a little more, too because a lot of their relationship was heavily implied rather than shown. Then again, the side BL plot shouldn't overtake the main sapphic romance, so I think I understand why it wasn't focused too much on.

The main mystery had its interesting bits, such as the identity of the murderer, but the other intertwining bits that I came to guess to didn't elicit that much intrigue from me. I guess I was getting a bit tired of the main villain near the end. While they served as a great point of conflict and exploration of abuse and abandonment, the character themself wasn't that interesting to me. I just wanted them to be finished off, already.

All in all, this is a solid sophomore novel from Poranek, and I look forward to reading whatever she writes next!

This book was beautifully written I will say. I just wish I felt more attached to the characters, and more interested in the plot.

I know this books is a “Swan Princess” retelling, but also at the same time it was incredibly cliched. No twist in the story had me audibly gasping or shocked.

I think if you like dark and atmospheric storytelling, you will eat this up! Unfortunately, that’s just not what I look for in my novels. It’s incredibly vibing, and I was expecting the romance to be more of a plot point than it was. I didn’t feel drawn to the characters and I was more reading this to finish it rather than caring to know how the story ends.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the EARC!