This is the type of book where you never really know what's going on but it feeds you just enough information that you just have to keep reading.

Time and all of the events are not really chronological, so it gets very confusing to keep all the plot details in your head if you're reading this in small parts. The magic is very similar in that you don't ever figure out how it really works or the limitations. Most of the time these things would be a detriment to the story but Jennings does a fantastic job at giving you what you need to understand the story then letting your imagination fill in the blanks.

My only big complaint about the book is that there are a lot of characters, many of whom you only ever see once or twice for exposition or worldbuilding but never really effect the plot in anyway. One side charater even had a whole chapter in his POV which did create some world building but it really didn't fit in with the rest of the story and he was only briefly mentioned one more time as a background character.

It was a beautifully written story that really captured how a city, expecially one that has faced so much hardship, can have its own personality. I highly recommend this book but definitely be prepared to be constantly on your toes the entire time.

I definitely went into this book expecting it to be almost dictionary style in that most of the book would be just giving a bunch of definitions to words, and while there is plenty of that here, the author does an amazing job at going into the history of how the Irish language shaped itself.

The author does bounce back and forth quite a bit between different topics quiet rapidly, and even has a quick chapter tangent about a different subject inbetween. That can be a bit tricky to keep up with at times but they've managed to fit so much detail not only about the history and how it was used, but also modern examples and other sources to check out for further research.

If you have any curiosity about Ireland or the Irish language, I highly recommend it!

I am a firm believer that a book being a simple romance does not excuse bad writing and this book sadly has a lot of that. There are so many plot holes that just make no sense and many more plot devices that just fall apart if you think of them for even a second.

The concept of all three religious holidays happening at the same time has so much potential but it felt like the authors wanted everything to be so picturesque that so many things just got glazed over or were more romanticized than necessary. The characters were enjoyable but we never really go into depth with many of them except for an exposition that never really provide any development.

If you dont know actors well you would have to paused quite a bit to search a lot of them because they never really describe anything, just tell you exactly what to picture, all while never really setting a scene.

I really wanted to like this more since the concept was so interesting but this book seriously needed to go through a few more rounds of editing and peer review before it was ready.