Thank you so much to the author for providing an ARC for the purposes of this review!

This might be the most Milennial thing I have ever read, and I say that as a compliment being an Elder Milennial myself. The humor, prose, and general vibes just spoke to that style of humour, sarcasm, and fine-i'll-do-it-myself/fuck-around-and-find-out attitudes I find prevalent in those of my generation. Also direct references to things right out of my childhood/teens like removing pool ladders while playing The Sims. I can see this maybe being a detriment to others outside of this generation potentially. Aside from this, my favourite thing about this book was absolutely the banter and relationship arc between our two main characters Avery and Felix. I ate that shit up, and so many books with the Fated Mates trope I find it feels very forced, like they only grow to love each other because they have to for the plot. The chemistry just felt so natural with these two and the way they were written, I felt they could have ended up where they were even if fate/the author and the plot didn't intend to put them there. I would have liked for the pace of their transition from historic enemies forced to coexist to soulmates to take a LITTLE bit longer, but it wasn't egregiously fast either.

I also loved just the author's style of humour in our main character's inner monologue. From the sparing use of cat puns (enough to be funny but not too many to become cringey), to unique metaphors I haven't seen used time and time again in romantasy, I highlighted quite a few quotes in my Kindle while reading. Some of the end-game declarations of love were also just sooooooooooo romantic and passionate and all-encompassing that I secretly wish I had read this before my wedding so I could have used some of it as inspiration in my vows.

Where this book lost some stars for me comes in some continuity errors and contradictions, both in the world-building outside of our love story, and in the characters' own discussions of their timeline. Even more so because in the acknowledgements the author thanks her editors for going over this book "with a fine-toothed comb." This might just have bothered me more because I am about to start my own education/journey into a book editing career, but I counted 5 poor grammar/sentence structure errors, 4 continuity errors, 2 typos, and at one point an entire page was just repeated twice? Also the epilogue has the wrong character's name at the top that normally depicts whose POV it is. Not only is it the wrong character's name, it's not a name we have encountered at all yet in the entire series. Might be some gaps in your editors' combs they are using.

Regarding the world-building, there is so much potential here in the dynamics and history described between humans, witches, and shifters, but it feels very surface level without a lot of logic from what we see on page. For example, when discussing how witches and shifters are mortal enemies, a certain character (avoiding naming for spoilers) who is a reliable source when explaining this history basically just says they weren't always enemies and then one day witches just "chose to go in another direction." WHY THOUGH? Like, give me ANY crumb of a reason and I will run with it but to just be like they changed their minds one day now you're enemies for centuries is so vague and lazy and boring of a choice. In the back half of the book we get lots of strong twists and interesting choices regarding the dynamics between these groups, the deities they stem from, and the direction the author wants to take them. They would just be even more meaningful and enjoyable if their foundation was a little stronger and more fleshed out.

Last but not least, this might be my petty on full display here, BUT WHY SO MANY WET SEX SCENES? I am not talking lubrication wet, I am talking how so many of the spicy scenes took place in hella damp environments (like in literal flooding caves), wearing soaking wet clothes, in baths and showers, etc. I love spicy time in the shower IRL as much as the next girl (probably more than the next girl if I am being honest), but I also know how biology works. Water is the opposite of lubricant, in fact water INCREASES friction, so you would usually need to use other aids/methods to help offset this if you want your spicy time to still feel good. During one such scene in this book, I read this: "The water amplified every sensation, the slick slide of skin on skin, the way he stretched and filled and claimed her." I literally put a note and said INCORRECT WATER IS THE ANTI LUBE! Not to mention at one point, sans the use of magic or claws, the MMC somehow swiftly and easily removes a skin tight completely soaked and waterlogged dress from our FMC like he is whipping off an oversized t-shirt. AIN'T NO WAY! I genuinely enjoyed a lot of the spicy scenes, BUT WHY SO MUCH WATER??????? Anyways, rant over.

I had a good time reading this, and I'm eager for the next in the series. I do think there is lots of room for improvement to take a good/fun romantasy into a great one.