Ugh what a perfect book.

I absolutely adored reading this. The vibes were incredible, the writing was gorgeous, and the story was so simple but so sweet. Dora and Elias were so fun to read right from the get go, I became so endeared to them and loved the way they fell in love.

I found the entire cast great. Dora and Albert’s friendship was lovely, and I enjoyed the dynamic between Dora and Vanessa as Dora developed and realised more about herself. Miss Jennings was a surprisingly lovely addition, seeing her and Albert interact in the background became another quiet joy for me.

I genuinely thing I loved everything about this, everything except a single line in the epilogue that felt out of place and unnecessary, and I will be pretending it doesn’t exist.

Anyway, need everyone to know my fancast so: I spent the entire book picturing Dora as Mia Wazikowska, Vanessa as Anya Taylor Joy, Elias as Thomas Brodie Sangster, and eventually Albert as Aaron Taylor Johnson. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

My kindle copy also included the Lord Sorcier novella which gave us a brief look at Elias and Albert’s first meetings during the war. I thought it was short and sweet, I really love their dynamic and this addition really built on that ❤️