First off — I was so ridiculously excited to be approved for this that I squealed. The Black Jewels Trilogy has been a series I’ve read from the time I was a teen — 15 years ago. In a way I’ve grown up with this series.

Me: *hates love triangles*  This book: *hold my mortem* Okay, so this book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. I loved For the Wolf and For the Throne, and I was BEYOND thrilled when I got an ARC of this book. (Alas, waiting for the sequel is going to be absolute torture). 

Holy smokes! I love anything to do with faeries, and I have since I was a little girl. With all the fae in books recently I felt that this was a refreshing take on them. (Not that there is anything wrong with the others, there isn’t).

ALL I NEED TO SAY IS I NEED THE NEXT ONE ASAP. AAAA IT WAS GOOD. Like what do I even say about this book??? I don’t think I have any words for it. The beginning is a little slow at first and you’re kind of scratching your head going… Is there a point to this/where is this going? BUT THEN you get to the amazingness that is the rest of the book.

So, I was excited going into this book because it said gothic on it, and I’m into pretty much anything gothic. And boy, did I get gothic! I also got a mix of fantasy elements that I love so much. And Death. Death was great as well. In some ways the atmosphere — something — about the book reminded me of Sorcery of Thorns, one of my all time favorite books. As well as Down Comes the Night. The combination in this book was just so well done. I was living for it. It is going to be a must re-read this fall when it’s spooky season. (I promise, you won’t be disappointed!)

So I have previously rated Kingfisher’s books three stars. And this one sounded really good to me. It had all the hallmarks of being a book that would keep my attention. As a note, this book has horror components as do most of Kingfisher’s works, but the horror in this book takes place in a fantasy world that is much like a fairy tale. Grimm fairy tales really.