i definitely should’ve finished this in one go when i started it years ago, but i was so scared to see how it would end. and even reading the concluding chapters for the last week, i knew where it was headed at some point and i knew i would bawl.

this has been a journey and truly feels like the end of an era for me. i initially expected a more epic ending, but this ending didn’t feel totally out of left field. i’m glad it went this direction though and not where i thought it was going to go.

definitely a more plot-heavy book, but that felt needed for a conclusion.

i love my trio rin + kitay + nezha forever and they will continue to live in my heart.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book was perfect amounts of gothic, yearning, mysteries, and paranormal which took me on wild journeys that fulfilled themselves as the story went on. I did not know much about this story prior, but it gripped me from the start and left me wanting to know more and know why.

Let’s, of course, start with Leena Al-Sayer. I love her so much: her strength, tenacity, and willingness to follow her heart despite the dire circumstances made her the perfect catalyst to power this story forward. She never lost sense of herself and what was important to her: protecting her brother, searching for her father, holding onto the book she and her mother used to read together. Everything she did was unselfish, and that was how it always was for her. She was forced to survive and make sacrifices in order to just get by.

It’s with the introduction of Mr. St. Silas that upturns not only her life, but his own as she seeks him out to retrieve an antidote in order to cure her brother of a dreadful disease that is Sweeper’s Cough. St. Silas started out as a dark, mysterious, and unyielding figure, but even the toughest walls can be broken down. And in this case, were the barriers a form of keeping others out or of protecting oneself? As we got to know his character, he just ended up falling in line with many of the characters that I tend to like in fiction: someone deeply wounded and trying to save themselves.

This is a slowburn at its finest, and I am all for that. The payoff was definitely worth it as Leena and St. Silas slowly got comfortable working together, learning to trust one another, and growing to care for each other. If you want yearning, this is for you! Because oh, is the yearning so good. You’re grasping onto to those lingering gazes, unsaid words, and more.

Heba Al-Wasity’s writing is wonderful, I was in awe finding out this is the first thing she’s published! The descriptions of the surroundings brought Golborne, Weavingshaw, and Bastmore to life within my imagination. The inner feelings of the characters were so intricately and delicately described that they took root within my own heart. The pacing was perfect, and each insertion of backstory felt properly placed, not slowing down the narrative or hindering my attention span.

I cannot wait for the next two books to release in this trilogy. That cliffhanger will live in my head until then!