I just loved this book, and the characters from beginning to end.

It’s a bit of historical fiction that meets magical realism with a little X-Men on top for whipped cream. The story doesn’t skirt past the racism and sexism of the era. For instance, the story relays that a man called Iris a horrid name without writing it out but you could put together the pieces. None of it is done in a way that’s triggering. That’s so refreshing!

Oh, and the characters! Iris was a fun main character with some edge. She was so innocent, clever, and ruthless when she needed to be. A whole bunch of characters are ruthless and gutter actually. Jinn (so especially him, my handsome prince) and Max were so sweet! Jinn had banter with Iris, but it wasn’t the usual mean-spirited, degrading type. This is the type of love triangle I want when both guys are lovely. Well, at least until everything went to hell Max’s ragtime runaways’ group was also likable from their first introduction. I liked the whole gang.

Finding out the backstories of the big events and characters kept me furiously turning pages. The story unveiled the mysteries slowly in layers, but the narrative didn’t feel laggy. I ate every bit up. Every character here has their own demons to face, and it’s so enthralling to read. One mystery gets revealed just to beget four more. There are also some trope subversions that me surprised in a good way.

Only one thing kind of bugged me. Iris kept blushing, but she is black. I don’t think she was light-skinned either. But maybe she was physically blushing, and it wasn’t visible. Something small but I noticed.

Either way, this book was quickly 5-star territory for me. And guess what? Ya girl already got book two! BAM!

Ending spoiler (seriously, don’t read unless you’ve finished the book): at the thick of it, Adam is just suicidal and hurt (and, of course unhinged). If his family can’t be in this world, then it doesn’t deserve to exist to him. gosh, he’s such a little freak lol. Wanting Iris to bring about the destruction of the world.

Also, this story reminds me of Henrietta Lacks

Book Two Review: The Song of Wrath ( )

This was an interesting start to this historical fantasy series. There was a lot of world building happening in this book and I think that will lead to a great second book and beyond. Looking forward to reading the second book "The Song of Wrath" when it releases later in 2023, to see where the story takes us next. ( )