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This is almost 5 stars simply TO ME because it was so entertaining and I couldn't put it down. We follow Rune, a witch, and Gideon, a witch-hunter, as they sort through complicated feelings while plotting against each other. They both had complex and sad backgrounds that formed who they were and their stances in the book.

Before I say everything I really enjoyed, there are some issues that kept this from a solid 5 stars. Firstly, if we are told a character is cunning and smart, their actions need to reflect that. The main female character, Rune, continuously fell for the easiest traps. As for the writing itself, it was repetitive with some things. (WE GET IT, IT'S BEEN 2 YEARS). And as for the plot, for me, I guessed every single twist. Which didn't take away from my enjoyment, but I would've liked to have been wrong. I also feel this very much reads as YA, and all the characters were 18 year olds. If everyone has simply been aged up several years, this would've been great. Such as Gideon is 18, but he's already in the highest ranks of the witch hunters?

Now for the good. The plot pacing was great! Every chapter served a purpose. We got complex characters, evil characters, and with the double POV we see how there are two sides to every story. Some of the characters irked me, which is a good thing since that means they were written well. And the ending was a peak for me and makes me want to continue the series! Finally, a TRUE enemies to lovers, where they both have reasons to not like the other and it isn't just miscommunication.

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A castle under siege, full of people who are trapped inside and have nothing left to eat. When one day, a group of saints appear, seemingly as their salvation. But are they truly who they appear?

When I started this, I realized it had everything I love in a novel; complex characters, dark themes, interesting imagery. But the execution was too much. We would hit a pivotal moment, a climactic scene- but because the writing was so flowery we suddenly were reading about someones thoughts or dreams or hallucinations... I just wanted to get back to what was happening and move the plot along.

The imagery was amazing-the use of bees and honey, in such a gory frenzied way, was very fun. And I did enjoy the 3 characters and their POVs. We follow a kings knight, a tall, strong, loyal woman. We also follow the orphaned princess of another kingdom, hiding away from her father's killer, using her cunning to survive. And lastly we have the ex-nun witch, who works mysterious spells in her tower, but doesn't even know how she does them.

This book was dark, and extremely gory. Cannibalism was very heavy. I would have rated it higher except after 2/3 of the way through I genuinely just wanted it to wrap up. The over descriptions, the hallucinations, were only fun to read about the first time. It was TOO dreamlike to read, some things I would re read and still don't know what happened. Kind of gave me a headache near the end. However, if you're a fan of sapphic characters, original plots, body horror and gore, then give it a try.

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In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, was such a fun one. The characters were all nuanced, they had problems, but it was done so well. We follow a group of 8 friends, going back in forth between their college years to the present time. While in college, one of their friends was brutally murdered. This murder went unsolved, and now in the present time her brother has made it his mission to finally solve it.

While the mystery part of this was a little obvious to me, I really enjoyed the characters and learning more about the story. Usually with thrillers like this I hate the characters, and they do things that don't make sense. But in this, we get a sense of who they all are, and what makes them that way. I actually found myself relating a lot to Jessica, who felt such pressure from her parents to be the best, she did the things she did. Their was also a side plot romance that I really enjoyed! (Coop is the perfect man 😩)

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If We Cannot go at the Speed of Light was a much different read than my normal, and in the best way. Each story was captivating, some I liked more than others, but they were all new and interesting to me. There was almost an underlying humor to many of them, and a sadness. These stories touched on what it's meant to be Human, and how we interact with one another. This is a short story compilation, so I would read a story in between my other books, and it was the perfect pallet cleanser. Each story was easy to read, but they were not juvenile at all.

I had no clue where any of these stories would go, or what to expect. For example my favorite of the bunch, Spectrum, focused on a character whose grandma went on a space expedition and came back 40 years later. The grandmother only aged 20 years, and recounts her time living with the "alien" lifeforms. This take was so much different than any I have seen, such as the aliens using light as their form of communication, and expressing themselves differently than humans.

I really enjoyed this a lot more than I expected! If this sounds interesting to you at all, definitely give this a read. Thank you to Saga Press and Netgalley for the eARC.