4 ⭐️ and read on KU. This book had me GAGGED! I legit texted my friends telling them when a plot twist actually got me that I didn't see coming! It happened twice and I was so pleasantly surprised by it! Let's break this down a bit and will try to not rant too much lol. I loved the characters - the MMC and FMC were really well done and their story and how it unfolded had me hooked. I loved Greyson so much but omg I also LOVED Callum and JAMESON. Like what?! For context, the book has multiple POVs in third person and even the side characters were fleshed out really well. This book brings you dark romance + dystopian but in a way that still kept the plot unfolding really well. You have your typical dystopian elements (rebellion, oppression, coercion etc) but it still kept its own originality to it and it didn't feel overdone. If you'd like to compare it somehow - the combination of Handmaids Tale and Hunger Games is definitely accurate and I can see why readers make the comparison BUT in no way is it not unique. Everything in this book was pure manipulation and i was thoroughly manipulated AND enjoyed it. I will say I did want the romance with our MMC and FMC developed a bit more but I can understand the slow burn of it all. All that to say though....the last 20%.... jesus f***** christ bro. Are you kidding me!? I have NO ONE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS. I can't wait for the next book.

Forgive me father….. 🙂‍↕️ look sometimes you just need to be taken to church. 2.5⭐️

I won’t sit here and tell you this is for everyone because it isn’t lol but it was a good time. I did it on audio and yes I absolutely am aware that this had no plot whatsoever but you know what I didn’t go into it for the plot! I’m not going to break this book down but if you just want some fun smut - pick it up! If not, move on. If you do, I recommend it on audio.

Father Bell 🧎🏼‍♀️‍➡️

I’m giving this a 2.5 ⭐️ overall and let me start by saying I’m a HUGE Lies of Lena and Sins of Silas fan. The Otacian Chronicles overall had me in a chokehold and I absolutely loved everything about the story. That being said, this book felt unnecessary. It didn’t do much to further the plot of the overall series and other than the ending??? I mean what else did it do for the series. It could’ve been an epilogue for Sins of Silas? I understand the need to publish a novella and keep the hype around the series alive while the next big installment is in the works but I really got nothing out of this other than of course loving Merrick even more. But I already loved him lmfao I don’t think it needed to be a whole other book. It was flashbacks and trauma dumping which again I understand wanting to give us more of Merrick and Erabella but tbh the book can be skipped. Regardless of all that, I do love this world and these characters and I am looking forward to The Secrets of Enid and more of the actual plot progressing.

I want to say this is teetering between a 2.5 / 2.75 ⭐️ read for me. I read it on audio. It wasn’t awful and it was short enough that I felt compelled to finish it. The vibes were definitely mid century Americana and felt like i had taken a ride in a Time Machine. If you’re looking for a short easy read that highlights the problems that can arise in a marriage, the 1950s housewife and all American family portrayals but that is also steeped in secrets and regret - this is a good pick. It felt well written but I also just didn’t feel any connection to the characters and at times the writing felt disjointed. I get what the author was trying to do but maybe it could’ve been a bit more polished and added another 50 pages? The whole thing felt like it could be a psychological thriller type show on Netflix lol if it had a little more humph.