As someone who really enjoyed Song of the Hell Witch, it breaks my heart to say that Dance of the Dark Mother was a disappointing conclusion.

We pick up right after SOTHW ended: Pru has to convince the leader of the Ladies of Leora, Hetty Jones, to join forces in taking down Hale and rescue Bea, Puck’s daughter. Meanwhile, Puck deals with the aftermath of his transformation into a Zeraph.

During the first half of the book, I strongly believed this was going to be a five-star read. The conflict between Pru and Hetty was by far my favorite part. It added complexity that elevated the stakes of the story and good commentary about feminism which applies to what’s currently happening in the real world. I also really liked Puck’s internal struggle, and I found myself worried about what his fate would be in the end. The worldbuilding expanded in this book and it was explained in a better way than SOTHW was: more seamless, less info-dumpy. The pacing was well-balanced and I flew through this section!

But then I hit the second half and that’s where my enjoyment fell. I was more invested in Pru’s chapters than Puck’s, and that is largely because I failed to see how Puck’s mission tied to the overarching theme of the story. Even when explained, I was scratching my head a lot.

The more I read, the more I noticed how a lot of the side characters that had huge roles in SOTHW were sidelined in this installment, to the point where they were barely on-page. It was strange considering some of them left SOTHW with their arcs unfinished and this book didn’t conclude them. The side characters that were focused on this book had their arcs rushed and I didn’t connect with them as much as I should’ve to care. I also found myself wishing for more Pru and Puck moments.

Harltey excels in writing cinematic fight scenes and after the ending of SOTHW, I was very excited to see how the action would play out in this book. Unfortunately these scenes were way more toned down, which didn’t quite fit with the spectacle the finale was setting up to be. Speaking of the finale, the ending was very rushed and it didn’t have a huge impact on me. It felt like there was more left to tell.

My expectations were high and that might have affected my enjoyment. That being said, this duology was a solid debut for Hartley and I’m really looking forward to reading their future work!

Thank you to the author for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

DNF at 78%

This started off really good but as it progressed, the flaws became more apparent and my enjoyment diminished. I was gradually forcing myself to keep reading and the mere thought of it made me upset.

I'm glad that I didn't know much about the synopsis of this book because the plot drags so much that the meat happens at 70% and even then, it's over before it even begins.

I also didn't like how the relationship was progressing. It's telling when I think the the couple has more chemistry when they are enemies and I don't want them to get together. I couldn't tell what was the reason for Arin and Essiya to fall in love other than Stockholm Symdrome. It had the same issues I had with The Knight and the Moth: the characters never had a scene where they talked outside of trying to scheme each other. The oppressor/oppressed dynamic also didn't sit right with me.

I wish I could say more about the characters but the only interesting one was Arin.

Maybe this is my sign to steer clear from enemies to lovers because this is not my jam.