Melissa Marr

I'm sorry, I want to be supportive of Melissa Marr because I really enjoyed her previous books, but this is a hot mess that could benefit from some serious editing -- it's a book with an identity crisis that doesn't quite know what it wants to be -- romantasy? New take on harry potter? Moody mystery? some kind of deeper and longer fantasy? I don't know. The world building is sketchy but getting there. The romances are... instant and not entirely believable. The problem that the characters are facing is weird and not really compelling. But the most important thing is that I went into this thinking it was a romance-type book -- some angst, some connection, hopefully a great setting and some snarky dialogue, followed by a satisfying resolution -- only to discover at the end of the book that this is the first in a duology and it's just a set up for book two. No thanks. It's got promise, but it needs more focus and some ruthless attempts at believability.

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