Again, fckboy falls for girl who is not a fckgirl. I know that Allie and Dean are a fan favorite couple, but I don't really know why. Their story is much the same as the ones before. However, this one didn't really manage to get me emotionally involved, tbh. And the sexism was really coming out in this one (it's okay for the boys to fck around, but the girls shouldn't). I mean Allie really didn't need to self-doubt any time she thought of having casual sex. If this was only a narrative point in this book, okay. But it's in all the books of this series. It is really a product of its time, isn't it.

This was okay at best for me, sorry. Fckboy versus virgin girl, a surprisingly deep background for the guy (with a bit of a sugary/naive ending), and nice amount of grovelling after said fckboy outassholed himself. Btw, I cannot for my life remember one characteristic of Grace besides her love of cringy action movies, she was just bland... Yet, for some reason I still enjoyed reading it.

Honestly, this book kept me hooked purely based on vibes and the great chemistry between the characters, because if it had to rely on the plot or depth... that would be a different story 😅 Despite him being the ultimate fuckboy, Garrett somehow managed to become my favorite in this book by being a, let me check my notes, good person. The bar is in hell, ladies, but I'll take what we get. But I'll say this: I appreciated how the heabier topics were handled, and that the story even included them. That's what keeps me going to the next one.

Imagine that you are a witch on the run from someone who wants your powers, and then, seemingly by luck, find yourself in a far away village, secluded in the mountains, surrounded by snow and a very strange forest, and you meet people who are... nice? Who like you? Who genuinely just want to be around you? And one of them is this really handsome and charming guy who despite being "half of a wicked faerie" you can't help but like... But something is lurking in the forest and you might just be the only one who can stop it. Well, you don't need to image it, you can just read this book instead. The banter, the longing, the characters, the plot, the magic system, the folklorish elements, the vibes... omg why is this only a standalone? I want MORE! Oh, and it also has a sassy af talking cat!!!

Thank you to the author for giving me thes eARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

A group of young academics, who are coincidentally also witches, are kidnapped going to the conference (every STEM-student's nightmare, I guess) so that they can figure out why their very wealthy and mysterious capturer has a rotting leg. Sprinkle in a creepy mansion, an even creepier forest surrounding it, and a healthy amount of gore and you got yourself one of my favorite reads of the year. The sapphic storyline, the capturing main character and the great writing are just the cherries on top.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this eARC. This is my honest opinion.