A great exploration of family and love, and all the strife and pain that can go with it. Reminded me of Circe- a story of one woman spanning centuries, with familiar people and myths scattered throughout it. It definitely dragged a little, and felt like some scenes could’ve been shortened with absolutely no loss to the story. But the slowness was also kind of the point. I wouldn’t recommend the audiobook, if physical is possible for you— the narrator attempted character voices, but couldn’t maintain them, so it was difficult to tell who was speaking most of the time. & it made the slow pace of the book more difficult to get through. Overall, I definitely enjoyed.

When the romantasy genre first got big when I was in college, I was confused, because every fantasy book I’d ever read had at least a little bit of romance. No— THIS is romantasy. This is a romance through and through wrapped up in magic and medieval battles. Every decision the characters made was for romance. Every decision the author made for magic and world-building was there to support the romance. That might not be for some people. But it was a very good romance— and it had me obsessed. The magic system is incredibly satisfying, the plot drew me in quickly, the chapters are wonderfully paced to have me on the edge of my seat. This became, and will probably be for a while, my new obsession. Can’t wait to see what more the author has in store for the world.