This was easily the best urban fantasy debut that I’ve read in years! Savannah Stephens has written an incredible story in a fun-scary version of our world featuring an extremely compelling female lead. For my audiobook enjoyers, Chanté McCormick does such a good job bringing the book to life, I would actually recommend the audiobook over a paper book for a first reading experience.

The thing I loved the most was how completely the setting was steeped in Black culture. I loved urban fantasy back in the heyday of the 00s and 10s, but let’s be super real, those books were often blindingly white. Stephens does a particularly good job with her descriptions - anytime the reader is introduced to a new setting or a new character we are treated to incredibly detailed word pictures making it so easy to picture each scene as it unfolds. On her instagram she also provides a really cool 🔗visual lore guide to both the world and also many of the important characters.

The writing felt a bit episodic at times, and there was a single supporting character who I think should have been introduced earlier in the book to have the impact that the author intended, but I don’t think either of these things should discourage anyone from reading the book.

Seriously, if you like urban fantasy or Black stories by Black authors, this is a debut that shouldn’t be skipped.

(P.S. If you don’t recognize me, this is HeraldMagus - I changed my username very recently and figured I should mention this in a few places to hopefully confuse fewer people. 🙃)