I was not familiar with your game Sir Jay Kristoff and the pain you like to inflict on your readers, but here I am wanting more after finishing this book. This was honestly a whole trip and I loved how many layers the story had. The plot is so well built, everything is connected in a way that we don’t see until it’s revealed to us, so many plot twists that literally had me go back into certain parts of the story in a “how did I not see this coming” way that really just keeps you on the edge of your seat, cause you never know when the story might get crazier than it already is. Loved the fact that we see Gabriel’s story literally from the beginning, how and why everything happened and how he himself changed with what was happening around him. He was such an interesting character with the mentally of doing good not because he had to or because people saw him as a hero, but because he did whatever he wanted and that happened to end up being something good. How strong he was, both physically and mentally, despite what he had to go through and how, for a long time, he was seen as less but he still fought nonetheless. He still had his flaws, and I liked how not perfect he was, but he was always true to himself. The narration style, while it kinda threw me off at the beginning, became so interesting and you get used to it so quickly, it almost feels like someone is telling you a bed time story (with a lot of gore and death but who’s counting the details). Even the back and forth of the different timelines became important to the story, considering what we would learn and how that would change how we viewed the story. Now, there were three characters that really stuck with me and that I need to highlight. The very obvious one: Astrid. As soon as she’s introduced in the book, she makes such a first impression that I knew right away I was gonna be obsessed with her. The way she’s true to herself? How confident she is? How she doesn’t hide what she feels and says what she wants to say? Even though her romance with Gabriel was a small part of the book, it was still such a sweet love story. I do wish we got to see more of her, because of how important she is to Gabriel I thought there would be more scenes with her, and I honestly just wanted to know more about her in general. Chloe, my sweet sweet Chloe. She was kind, caring, sweet, and her friendship with Astrid and Gabriel was so heart warning, I loved seeing how much they valued each other and cared for each other. She was everything, but had one very strong flaw and that was that she believed too hard. She had her beliefs, religious or not, and no one could convince her otherwise or show her different. Dior though? Went from just being there to probably being my favorite character. Very similar personality to Gabriel in terms of being strong minded, caring for other people and wanting to do what’s right. The friendship Dior and Gabriel build was so sweet, even considering both of their pasts, that it made me so happy to see them care for each other. I bawled my eyes out reading this book, but with those last few chapters, I’m so excited and curious to continue the series!!