Pullman, why are we going into the ethics of a senior professor (11 years older to FMC) possibly being in love with the child he helped care for. No one wants this disgusting dynamic and I hope the book doesn't tread that line any further. ugh.

WOW. This is what yall were glazing????? It's so lackluster and down right bad at times. Not as bad as Fourth Wing. The writing is clunky. "Mom screamed. Jude screamed. Taryn and Vivi screamed." That line made me wonder if I was reading a kids book. I get it's meant to be childish. But childish doesn't mean terrible. And the worldbuilding, way to barely do it when it counts. You spend all that damn time with the dresses and ornate details in the house, but can't give a real detailed description of the magic forest???? Are you shitting me? I don't care about what the wood carvings are meant to look like if you aren't going to do any worldbuilding. And I am so thoroughly uninterested in the world already. And we just started. I'm just bored. I genuinely want to know what could possibly have warranted the hype. Genuinely. Maybe it comes later. But Jesus does it not deserve it so far. People on Booktok act like some books are the first books ever written and it has the same depth as the alphabet song.

wow. i cant believe i finished this series. this was such a good book. i don’t know how to feel rn

I wanted to like this but I really couldn't get past a third of it. The medieval era setting usually gets the best of me to drop out quickly.