A solid first book in the trilogy, if you don’t mind a snarky (bitchy?) FMC and a ton of exposition about the school setting and world. Very fun!

Let’s go lesbians! A bit slow, but still a quick and satisfying read

4.25⭐️. I went into this book assuming it would be all vibes, slim plot, and my enjoyment was definitely higher because of that. Really enjoyed all the characters and how each of them dealt with vampirism and the loss of their humanity. Totally wasn’t expecting the second half to be pretty much all Charlotte’s backstory about surviving (or I guess not really lol) an abusing relationship. I really appreciated the care with which Schwab wrote how easily people can get stuck in cycles of abuse. I think if it had a more concrete plot, I would have liked it more. I had mixed feelings about Invisible life of Addie Larue, and some of those criticisms carried over here— not a solid plot, Eurocentric, personalities not maturing even though they’re centuries old. I wanted Sabine to go to Taiwan or Kenya or someplace not Europe/America and have to learn the customs of vampires there, that would have been really cool. All in all, a solid book that definitely isn’t for everyone, but I appreciated it for what it was.

A brutal but enlightening history of the Troubles, following many important actors during the time. Really well researched and written—so many situations and stories sound made up, but as they say, reality is sometimes stranger than fiction. Can’t wait to read Keefe’s other works!

3.75⭐️. This wasn’t what I was expecting, both in good and bad ways. I expected a multi-generational family saga about 3 different women and their lives with elements of magical realism, which yes, in a very simplistic sense, this book is about. The first third was absolutely wonderful, I loved learning about our 3 main women and how they got to live in New Zealand. I also really liked the swamp personified as a character— it was super creative and refreshing to read from its perspective. However, once the white supremacist/red pill pipeline subplot was introduced, my enjoyment sharply waned. It was well written, but it hit too close to everything going on in the world and made my stomach hurt a bit to read from the perspective of a character who is lured into believing such inhumane ideas. My main issue with this book is that the author tried to fit so many important issues and themes into a 320 page book, which overwhelmed me and didn’t give me sufficient time to explore each theme. Family saga, climate dystopian, red pill pipeline, magical realism with a personified swamp, motherhood, refugee/immigrant experiences— these all deserve their own time to flourish. With that being said, it’s obvious the author put a ton of care and love into this book, and overall I did enjoy it and found it to be rewarding.
My thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley!

Loved the world, magic, and characters. Loved the use of a fantasy world to show the dark side of academia, but wished it delved a bit deeper into that theme. I also wished it had more of a plot, it felt very vibey and wandery once they got to hell. I know it wasn’t meant to be a cozy fantasy, but the vibes were cozy… maybe I wanted the stakes to feel higher? Definitely had a fun time reading it