Nothing terribly new. I struggled to get through this one a little, I was so glad I was done…. I spent more than half the book waiting impatiently for the characters to get a clue and see the obvious things…. I’d be more shocked about the big antagonist reveal if it had actually mattered… which it really didn’t. He might as well have been the faceless unknown “evil” ultimately… he didn’t really do much for the story.

I spent more than 65% of the book hoping Bea would just bite it…. She’s manipulative and self absorbed and I’ve spent want too much of my time dealing with those types in real life to handle them in my fiction too. I don’t particularly enjoy the useless lesbian fumbles after, and swallows every spoonful of poison from the pretty straight girl because maybe she might love her back one day trope… I need my MCs to get some boundaries and self respect and to boot Bea out the door…. And that took way too long to happen. I mean the pacing was a complete nightmare the the tone of it was just darker than dark and not really for any reason other than to be really dramatic made it feel like a gothic telenova. ( )

DNFd

I didn’t like any of the characters. The writing was very flowery. The story was going too slowly for me and I wasn’t engaged.

DNF 25%

So much potential but what actually happened here? ( )

This sapphic witchy tale showcased the good the bad and the ugly of witchcraft especially blood magic. Although other branches were represented, the primary culprit was the dark, forbidden, magically delicious Blood Magic. With a bunch of Magic being thrown around you'd think it would be a page turner but alas, it took a looooong time to finish and it wasn't just because I read it during the holiday crush when scores of family and old friends come out of the proverbial woodwork and try to score some extra karma points (and scotcheroos) by dropping by and never leaving... at least that's what it felt like for this stressed out, biblio-introvert. Anyway, I was only able to pick this up at nighttime, and pick it up I did. Over and over and over again I picked up this book... I could sense that it had great potential but I just wasn't getting that from what I was reading. The best I can say was that it was decent. The writing was not bad, the characters were on par with any other average read and the premise was interesting enough not to quit and move onto greener pastures. Sounds rough? It kind of was. Sounds rude? Maybe, but I only had a few hours to read each night and all I got for my precious time was middle of the road Meh! And to make matters even worse, there was... dum dum duuuuum... the dreaded insta-love... man do I loathe the insta-love trope and this had two beefy helpings of it. Pacing woes + double insta-love = no bueno in my world BUT it did redeem itself towards the end which helped save this one from some seriously disappointed review ranting.

Overall:
This read was dark. Dark and at times deeply disturbing. There were definitely trigger worthy moments. This should come with some warnings attached. Warnings of necromancy, witchy exorcism, drug use, self harm, child abuse, quasi-gruesome murder and (if that wasn't enough to turn your stomach) there was (continual) (mostly implied but described briefly once) non consensual intimacy with a minor... that and an all around air of depravity. Though there was a pacing issue for most of the book, the last 15% or so had loads of action and suspense. The end was both tense and satisfying... it wrapped things up nicely.

All in all, I say that if you are into suspenseful, multi-trope, witchy Magical Realism and can stomach a cornucopia of trigger worthy content then this one is a good contender for your next read

~ Enjoy

*** I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily *** ( )