I really wanted to like this book. There’s so much potential here. But the characters… they’re all like cardboard cutouts and have no solid characterization. They’re limp and never settle on an emotion for more than 5 seconds. The writing itself is hard to get through too. There is soooo much repetition. If I have to read the words “smirked,” “little lightning girl,” or “anyone can betray anyone” again in my life it’ll be too soon. We get it. I’ve already bought the set because I typically read a book in a day or two and am impatient, so I will continue the series and hope it picks up. The last chapters were by far the most interesting, so I will give the rest a chance and see what happens. Hopefully the characterization improves

I won’t lie, the first time I picked this book up I just really struggled to get into it. I mean Carden is just such a piece of work in the beginning. But I circled back and forced myself to push through because there’s just so much praise around this series and WOW was it worth it. Once the ball really starts rolling it just does not stop. I neeeeded to know what was going to happen next. While probably the weakest in the series for me, it is still a super strong foundation for everything that comes later and very worth the read

I love everything about this book. This is everything I want in a story. It’s tension, it’s plot twists, it’s yearning, like this book is That Girl okay? I will forever be chasing this high

I could not put this book down, legitimately. I needed to know what was going to happen next and at almost no point was I able to guess what happened next. The sole exception is the ending, I feel there it started to get a little bit predictable. But ultimately it was still so enjoyable and the journey to get there was so worth it that I was fine with a little predicability in the final chapters.