3.5⭐️

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

Overall, I thought this was a really solid ending to this fun, dark fairytale fantasy. There were elements that I completely adored, but some things that left me wanting a little more.

So let's start with what I liked -

I loved how a "HEA" was different for each other girls. And it didn't automatically mean that they each ended up in a committed romantic relationship - especially considering these characters are teens and just graduating high school.

I loved the emphasis and friendships and platonic love. Yuki and Ella's relationship is so fierce and unending and I was living for it.

The last quarter of this book is a RIDE. I never wanted to put this book down once things were being revealed. Definitely make sure you have time to spare once you get to the last 100 pages. Because you won't be able to put this down.

However that leads into some of the things that didn't quite work for me.

While the ending was action packed, the first half was quite slow. It felt like almost nothing happened for the first 30-50% of the book. It was just the main characters having the exact conversations over and over. Which left me feeling like this book did not need to be nearly 500 pages long. So much of that could have been cut without loosing any development or plot.

I also felt that while the ending was action filled and fast paced, I was left feeling underwhelmed by the final reveals. I didn't feel like there was good foreshadowing done throughout the story to lead to the conclusion and reveal. The people behind the plot felt sudden and odd and I wasn't a huge fan.

And the way the curse broke... didn't make a ton of sense to me. Especially considering all the searching and clues our heroines found throughout the book. I don't entirely understand how they got to that conclusion or why it worked.

So in the end I'm left feeling a little torn. I felt like this book had amazing messages and discussions about love and loyalty and friendships. But I thought the wrap up of the mystery could have been handled better.

This is definitely still a book I recommend for anyone who loves fairytales and wants a dark, queer take on those tales. And I'm excited to see what Laura Pohl does next!