Stealing Infinity is a very intriguing book. I found the time traveling to be fun and I loved the pace of the book. I actually enjoyed Natasha and loved the morally gray aspects of her. There were a few boring parts here and then but I pushed on. If you like time travel, history, romance, private academy, and theivery then this is the book for you.

This book went to the top of my TBR when I saw it involved time-travel and a secret academy tucked away for time-travelers to learn their power. I loved it! Just the perfect amount of fantasy and mystery. I am excited to see where the series takes us!

If you loved the Crave series, Harry Potter, or X-Men then you need to put this on your TBR. Plus, the cover is beautiful!! I'm excited to get a physical copy to add to my shelves.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for my advanced copay in exchange for my honest review.

This was hard to review. It was an okay book. I really enjoyed the prologue and first chapters. The premise / synopsis really drew me in but I ended up feeling disappointed. Its not bad per say it just personally missed the mark for me. The pacing was a bit awkward at times I found myself flipping from interested to okay skimming get to the point…and I started to get annoyed with the mystery. I don’t mind some mystery but things started to feel a bit repetitive where you just want actual answers.

The characters were okay. I really enjoyed Nat/Natasha/Tasha’s character in the beginning but I just found as I kept reading that characters all started to blend together. I wanted them to be more unique and dimensional and maybe there could be less of them.

I probably sound like I hated this but it’s one of those books I forgot immediately after putting it down, I felt like the book as a whole had so much potential and I wanted it to be so great. But I think it got bogged down with too many conflicting elements and felt way too long.

Thank you Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I want to scream from the rooftop how much I loved this book!! Nothing is what it seems and the only person you should trust is yourself. It reminds me a bit of the Scholomance but with time travel. This is the first in the series so ends on a cliffhanger. I can’t want until the next book!!

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Teen for a copy of the book.

Stealing Infinity is the first installment in author Alyson Noel's Stealing Infinity series. The author has agreed to a series of books that will be released over a course of six months. Anyone who read paranormal in the time of Twilight would be familiar with Alyson’s name and her Immortals series. The story’s jumping-off point is an academy for teens who travel through time, but it gets much deeper than that when we discover the heroine is linked to the (real-life) mysterious Antikythera.

The Antikythera mechanism is an Ancient Greek hand-powered orrery, described as the oldest example of an analogue computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. The story is told in the first person narrative by Natasha Clarke. When Natasha was 9 years old, her father disappeared, her mother broke down, and Natasha all but gave up on doing well in order to be the adult in the family. Natasha's only real friend is Mason, as well as a girl named Elodie Blue who acquires as quickly as she discard trouble.

After a night out at Arcana, Elodie finds herself arrested for theft, and kicked out of school. She is recruited to a fancy boarding school called Gray Wolf Academy located on a private island, owned by a extremely wealthy man named Arthur Blackstone and trains for time travel missions. The 100 students who call Gray Wolf home, are separated by colors. Green means you are a newbie, Yellow means you've did well, and Blue is where a core of students like Elodie, Braxton, Jago, Oliver, Song, and Finn belong.

Natasha has a gift and she's been experiencing episodes of Unraveling: seeing, sometimes unexplained, visions through time and memories of her past. As she navigates her way through her new home, the people she thought she knew best might be the most secretive of all. The most secretive may be Braxton who she quickly falls for. Natalie doesn't just going along with things because she felt like she didn't have a choice. She actively tries to figure out what Arthur is up to and why it sees as though a certain character is always around when things go sideways.

There are obviously lots of questions that need to be answers. I want to ensure you folks read the prologue because I think that will give you some idea of what's to come, and what's already taken place. There is a glaring cliffhanger ending which is to be expected. There's also a brief epilogue which features Braxton when he first meets Natasha at Arcana along with Elodie. The sequel is allegedly called Ruling Destiny and it is set to release February, 2023.

This book has an intriguing plot. The short chapters, mysterious secrets and unreliable characters will keep you flipping the pages.

It took a while for me to warm up to the characters, especially Natasha. She's a bit annoying at first and also can't seem to make up her mind about something, but she's trying to be better and stronger by the end of it.
The other characters talked in riddle making it difficult to know who to trust.

While I really like the time travelling concept with a modern twist, there are some things that makes me didn't fully enjoy the whole book.
First, the pacing turns slower in the middle of the story, but fortunately it picks up again near the ending.
Second, the explanation about the numerology and the tarot card sometimes can be confusing as well.

Lastly, for the romance part, I'm not really sure I'm rooting for Natasha's current love interest. Probably because it all happens too quickly with the instant attraction between them.
However, it seems to taken a different path near the ending with the introduction of a new character. We might have a love triangle in the next book....

The ending left me with lots of unanswered questions because things are far from resolved.
This book serves more as an introduction to the world building and the characters in this series.

Overall, it's a pretty good start for a fantasy sci-fi series. The last few chapters have me interested and curious to know what happens next especially with the new character addition!
I'm looking forward to read the sequel of this series!

Actual rating: 3.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Alyson Noel and Entangled Publishing for granting this e-ARC to me. I'm leaving this honest review voluntarily!

Stealing Infinity - Alyson Noel

To have me intrigued by history in the slightest is a huge feat that this book somehow managed with me. I was pleasantly surprised by all this fantasy book had to offer. This book dove into not only history, numerology, art, and mythology, but it also had a unique and fascinating fantasy aspect of time travel. I loved this story line because it felt fresh, and it was fast paced with an evolving and unraveling story line that had me racing through to the end. I was not sure who could be trusted, and I am still left unsure on holds secrets and who hold answers by the end.

I typically prefer open door scenes in my romance, but the intense gazes and electric vibrations between Braxton and Natasha had me totally satisfied. I loved all the characters, and I am so excited to see more of them in the future. I got many answers, but many were left unanswered.

If you enjoy a fast paced and unique fantasy novel, Stealing Infinity might be a good choice to read. I will be continuing on with the series as I need to know what else is in store for these characters.

I like the concept of this book. The time travel drew me in, and it was done well. What I was not expecting is the tarot cards, which got me excited. I have read a few books that incorporated tarot decks and each one has made me more interested in learning more about tarot. Readers of YA books will want to check out this book for themselves.

While I liked the elements of the story, I felt that it moved at a very slow pace. In fact, after a while, I found myself skipping ahead a few times to jump ahead the storyline. Even than the story still was slow. Additionally, I found myself not connecting to the characters as strongly as I had hoped. Sadly, this book was not for me.

Every time I get ready to read a book involving time travel or time heists I send up a few wishful thoughts to the literary muses that it won’t be a total disaster. After all, not every time travel novel is written the same or with the same underpinning theories. Some time travel books are meant for the Sagan set and some, like this YA title from author Alyson Noel (forgive the lack of umlaut, please), are meant for those who are more familiar with ideas close to wormholes and how all moments in time coexist alongside one another because time is a construct and doesn’t truly exist. Time is really just distance, and distance can be traveled. In this book, they just use something of a mashup between Doctor Who, Inception, and Avengers: Endgame to do it. That’s really, really oversimplifying it, but without spoiling the crud out of some of the most fun and tricky parts of the book I’m just going to leave it at that.

See, but that’s what landed this book (which just started out as me saying, “Oooooh, pretty shiny cover and time heists! Wanna read it!”) a 5 star rating: this book was some of the most page-turning, charming, interesting, and absolutely fun reading I’ve had in quite some time. In the last month or so I’ve read a lot of heavy material (yeah, I know, more the fool me for preferring horror and thrillers, right?), and this was like taking a large inhale of fresh, fantastical air. In both May and June there hasn’t been a fantasy novel I’ve read that didn’t have some serious social and/or cultural commentary attached to it, but “Stealing Infinity” (even though it does have a measure of self-awareness about the world’s richest people just hoarding wealth and doing nothing with it, which a theme I think we’ll see expanded on in the next installment) decides to just let the fun flag fly, showing us what it’s like to go through the ropes of essentially join a secret society of chrononauts and learn to time travel. There are trials along the way (hey, it’s a hero’s journey, of course there’s going to be trials). There’s romance, there’s tentative friendships, there are betrayals, there’s mystery, and there’s a female protagonist with a mysterious past and a special power not many people know about.

At the time of this review, I really needed this book. This book was like drinking perfectly cool water on a really hot day (well, it’s actually over 101 outside today, so I’m not far off but you know what I mean). It’s like biting into a perfect cookie when you’re craving one. It’s not an original book. It’s not a complicated book. It’s not a perfect book. But I needed it. It dragged me in, it kept me, it swept me along, and I kept turning pages until it ended and I was disappointed there would be no more until Noel completes the sequel. I’ll be there to pick that up!

Thanks to NetGalley, Entangled, and Entangled Teen for granting me early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book has given me everything ! It was a fun read! Though it had a familiarity to it, it was its own story.

I truly enjoy the authors style of writing. It’s easy to follow. World building was perfect and the characters were easy to connect with. Making me the reader very invested! I didn’t want to put it down. I was submerged into the pages. I also loved that the chapters were short. Makes starting and ending easy. It just flowed beautifully.

What would you do if one day your world was just flipped on its head and you had to start all over with no explanation or any answers to the many questions you have? Well that is this book. With every chapter you get a little closer to those answers. Though you are still left in wanting and it’s all needed.

This read was a great YA book and I am eager to read the next book. I will definitely being pushing my daughter to read it.

In short:
Did I like it ? Sure did.
Would I recommend it? Yes.
Would I read more by this author? Sure would.

Whelp this one may make the top favorite series list and this is just book 1 😂😂 I LOVE time travel books and this one is just too fun. Fast-paced, thrilling, mysterious, full of mean girl drama and intrigue. What more could I ask for?

I love the characters, including those I loved to hate. The author does an amazing job with that so even though I want to send Elodie to the past and leave her there, I have to love how well she is portrayed 😂😂

Book 2 cannot come out soon enough. I highly recommend for those who love YA Fantasy and time travel type reads. I sincerely appreciate Entangled Teen for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.

Stealing Infinity is the first in a new young adult fantasy series by Alison Noel. Natasha has reached her lowest point; kicked out of her school she has no where else to go except a eerie off-the-grid private boarding school. But there's more to Gray Wolf Academy that meets the eye and when Natasha catches the gaze of illusive, Braxton she feels she shouldn't trust him, even if she feels an unexplainable attraction.

Time travel high school. Sign me right up...right? The premis of this story is perhaps more alluring than the words in the actual book itself, at least the first half of the book. The main character is practically insufferable at first and the world building confusing and clunky. But, Natasha is more enjoyable by the end and her characterization has improved immensely. It was basically me rooting for this change that didn't cause me to DNF this book.

I don't think it's a bad thing that this novel is so slow. It's the first book in a series and the majority of this novel is exposition for that. I think this would definitely be a better marathon read, however, after the second book is released.

I can't say what I enjoyed most about the novel without spoiling the plot! But the last 20% percent or so really picked up and made me not regret spending my time on this book.

That being said, I would recommend Stealing Infinity to lovers of stories about time travel, rich-elite boarding schools, and illusive boys.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Wow this book! I have so many thoughts...
First of all thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for giving me an eARC and allowing me to read this early.
For starters, the cast of characters is really diverse and a lot of them are unique in some way. The plot of the academy and what they do there is intriguing and really interesting. I LOVE the mistery and I have so many questions that I hope will be answered in the first book 🤞🏻

Did I plan to read this whole book in one go without ever taking a single breath? No, but that's exactly what happened my drear friends.

I knew I'd love this, which is why I requested it in the first place, but I was absolutely not ready for this book to steal my heart and make its way into my ultimate faves.

The pace of the book is pretty fast, I'd say it gets faster and faster as you go on. It's the "slowest" at the start when Natasha is whisked away to Gray Wolf Academy, and while she's learning how things work in that world, but when it gets to the training and actual time travel so many exciting things are going on, making it extremely hard to stop reading.

I loved just about everything in this book, except Braxton, but we'll get to him later. The art, the intrigue, the characters, the setting(s) and the whole vibe were perfect.

Natasha immediately grabbed my attention, she's my favourite character along with Killian and Jago. She's down on her luck, but is a fighter at the core and I loved seeing her come to those realisations on her own.

I was so mad at the others when they were upset with her for not letting go of her past the second she got there, or that she wasn't trying hard enough to improve when she'd only been there for two days at that point. LET MY GIRL BREATHE.

Fortunately, that all mellowed out. Or did it?

The romance with Braxton was a bit disappointing, not because it happened so fast (although that is also a factor), but because the two of them have no chemistry. And I never trusted him, not at the beginning, not in the middle and definitely not at the end.

She has more chemistry with Jago, although I would say that it's more of a friendly than romantic chemistry. Still, I was cheering for him to become a love interest until Killian stepped into the scene.

KILLIAN! I don't care if he has some huge secret too, he could have a billion of them and I'd love him anyway. He and Natasha have the best chemistry, and if they don't end up together I will riot.

PLEASE LET THIS BE ONE OF THOSE RARE FEW BOOK SERIES WHERE A HEROINE CHOOSES THE BLONDE GUY OVER THE DARK HAIRED ONE, I'M BEGGING, I'M ON MY KNEES. PLEASE.

Okay, moving on (but not really, this book has me in its clutches now, and it'll never let go) to the most exciting part, TIME TRAVEL. It's one of my favourite things and reading about it in Stealing Infinity was such a delight.

There's a really unique concept, and the reader gets clues as to how it works while Natasha is learning about it herself. And we get to experience the frustration of not knowing all the answers when the others refuse to talk about it with her, I love it.

Also, numerology, astrology, even tarot cards are tied in and HOW MANY MORE TIMES DO I NEED TO SAY I LOVE IT IN ORDER FOR YOU TO READ THIS BOOK??? HOPEFULLY NOT TOO MANY.

Apropos the numerology, I found what it said for my number (7) at the start of the book (before the prologue) completely accurate. Usually sevens are described a bit differently and I don't always relate to what I read, but this was IT.

And the ending...yes. But the betrayal...but YES...I'm so excited for what comes next, you have no idea. FEBRUARY, HURRY UP.

*Huge thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Stealing Infinity Review


🕰BOOK REVIEW🕰

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

⚠️TW: sexual assault

Stealing Infinity by Alyson Noel
Release Date: June 28, 2022

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After being caught for a crime that she did not commit, Natasha gets taken away to a secret island, owned by recluse tech billionaire, Arthur Blackburn. She is to attend the Gray Wolf Academy. Come to find out, Natasha is the holder of a rare gift, and she is going to learn to hone it at Gray Wolf. But nothing is quite as it seems at this illusive school. Are your friends really your friends? What secret lies behinds that gorgeous boy’s stormy blue eyes? What is really going on here?

🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰🕰

Wowza! I loved this one! It is like the Mortal Instruments meets Robin Hood meets time travel. It’s definitely an introductory book. Lots of backstory and world building but with the short chapters it makes it go quickly. I developed a theory of what happens early in the book and that is what kept me going. I had to know if I was right. Or if I was even close. I think I am. But alas, its the first of a series so not all of my questions have been answered yet but I tell you I can’t wait until the next book comes out. Just keep in mind, this is definitely a YA fantasy novel. Don’t come in looking for spice. But if you like the butterflies of a high school love story then you will enjoy it. I highly recommend checking it out. It drops this week!

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✨Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this before it is published!✨

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A fun adventure with time travel (think 1700s), thievery, a secret island academy, the Antikythera Mechanism, magic, and futuristic technology. This is very much a young adult read with both sci-fi and fantasy elements.

WARNINGS: Attempted Rape (the main character is almost raped, but fights the attacker off), kidnapping, parental neglect

It’s the first in a series and while it doesn’t quite end on a cliffhanger, many questions are yet to be answered and many plotlines yet to come to a head. Nothing’s really resolved at the end. This book really wouldn’t work as a stand-alone.

The main character, Natasha, is likeable, intelligent, pragmatic, and a little bit morally grey. Between Natasha and some intriguing mysteries yet to be explained, I’m drawn in enough to want to read book 2 despite the lack of resolution at the end of book 1.

THE PREMISE:

Natasha’s just a (mostly) normal 17 year old. After her father left and never came back years ago, her mother basically checked out and gave up, they’ve been barely getting by, and Natasha basically stopped trying and let her grades plummet. Then, things get weird. Natasha gets framed for theft and extorted into attending a reclusive trillionaire’s mysterious Gray Wolf Academy on an island in the middle of nowhere.

Now, Natasha’s terrifying and seemingly random bouts of seeing through time that her father told her to always keep secret are back, she’s already made one enemy among her classmates, and the Grey Wolf Academy clearly teaches students things far more strange and dangerous than a typical high school curriculum, like sword-fighting, thievery, horseback riding, and the fundamentals of general relativity and space-time. The trillionaire running the school says he expects her to help complete his life’s ambition (no pressure or red flags there). Now, Natasha’s trying to rise up ranks at the academy, deal with a crush on the ever-secretive Braxton, and figure out what the academy is for and what the trillionaire head of the academy is really after.

It’s not all bad. In exchange for joining the academy, her mother is being financially taken care of. The part of her that loves fine art and aesthetics is in heaven with all the art, antiques, fancy clothes, and expensive decor at Gray Wolf Academy. One thing’s for sure, Natasha’s got her ambition and sense of adventure back, because apathy is a luxury she can’t afford at Grey Wolf and she’s starting to get the sense that there aren’t many ways to leave the academy and none of them are good. Failing is no longer an option.

THE WORLD:

It’s set in a part fantasy, part sci-fi world. On a reclusive tech trillionaire’s island, there are holograms and tons of technology that’s way ahead of the rest of the world. There’s also enchantments and time travel of a yet to be revealed and seemingly magical origin. Natasha seems to have the unique magical ability to see through time and glimpse things from other time periods. Although, she doesn’t have any control over it. There also seems to be some significance placed on numerology and tarot cards that I can only assume is supposed to be somehow mystically related to time, magic, fate, or Natasha’s abities.

THE CHARACTERS:

The main character, Natasha, can be a bit naive at times, but in a way that’s pretty realistic for her age. It’s not enough to really make her stupid (for her age) and she’s still fairly pragmatic, suspicious, and quick on her feet. She’s empathetic and likeable, but also pragmatic and a little bit morally gray. She’s not overly-forgiving, but she also bides her time for an opportunity for revenge instead of being a shortsighted hothead or tipping her hand prematurely. She lies when it’s smart to and she makes her fair share of mistakes. She’s not above being tempted or distracted. She doesn’t lose all perspective and spill all her secrets to the first guy she crushes on. She also doesn’t trust him completely. Natasha also undergoes growth, getting her ambition and sense of adventure back.

You don’t really get to the other characters very well yet, with the exception of Elodie, a classic antagonist that is impressive, pitiable, dangerous, diabolical, and never boring. Every character seems to be at least a bit morally grey, including Natasha. Most characters have a dark backstory for how they came to Greg Wolf Academy, like Natasha.

This book really keeps you guessing about who’s trustworthy and what hidden agendas and secrets everyone on the island has. Everyone seems to be hiding things.

THE ROMANCE:

There’s a bit of not exactly insta-love, but insta-attraction with the main love interest. However, it doesn’t completely overwhelm the main character’s good sense or, so I’m okay with it. (Although, I’m hoping for another love interest in Killian or a new character in book two cause I’m not liking Braxton and his whole mysterious, secretive, I-protect-people-by-keeping-them-in-dark-and-giving-vague-warnings, guy-with-a-dark-tortured-past-looking-for-redeption-by-getting-the-girl shtick. I thought it was weird and creepy that he liked Natasha and gave her a nickname before he even met her because he read her file and basically stalked her at the behest of his boss.)

THE PLOT & ENDING:

It’s a bit predictable at times, but not enough to spoil the major mysteries too much. There were definitely still surprises. The mysteries were interesting and kept my attention.

At times, I thought the pace was bogged down a bit by descriptions of clothes, picking out clothes, and fancy things. The main character had an interest in fashion/fancy things and sometimes these descriptions were relevant to the plot, so it made sense to include them. I’m not really interested in fashion or general fanciness, so I found those (usually brief) digressions a bit boring.

The only major problem with the plot was that it felt…. unfinished. No major plot arcs are resolved. No short-term plot arcs are resolved to give you closure while a long-term arc remains unfinished. You don’t even know what the main antagonist wants or is planning. Add to that a twist introduced at the end of the book that introduced a new plotline and created a mini cliffhanger.

All in all, this book wouldn’t be a complete story as a standalone. This makes it hard to judge the story on its own. It all depends on Book 2 in this series.

I received a free digital advanced reader copy via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely honestly and voluntarily.

4.25
Thank you to Entangled Publishing for sending me a copy of this book to read and review! Wow what a journey this book took me on. it was so fast paced and hard to put down. I loved the boarding school setting. It was just the right amount of preppy and mysterious without being too snobby. I also really enjoyed the historical aspects with all the art and background info given. While this was a time traveling fantasy, it was intriguing and felt new to me. I honestly felt like I was traveling with the characters. I also loved the romance subplot and thought it fit well into the narrative. I'm so glad there's going to be a sequel because this was left with so many unanswered questions but in the best way of you're left wanting mor. I was fully captivated and can't wait to see how Natasha is going to flourish. I really liked reading this one!

Stealing Infinity- book review
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨/5

“𝕬𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖑𝖜𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖗𝖊𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗, 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝖒𝖔𝖒𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖓 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖊 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖆 𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖕 𝖉𝖔𝖜𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖗𝖆𝖇𝖇𝖎𝖙 𝖍𝖔𝖑𝖊.”

This book had me leaving it and very confused all at the same time. I idea behind it is soooo interesting and different then anything else I have ever read. The way time travel was prorated in this book was so interesting.
The first 30% was straight FIRE, and the last 20% was also FIRE. The in-between part fell kinda flat for me. I just felt that the pacing was a little slow for my taste.

To be honest, I don’t know which characters to trust and which characters to like. I think there is a lot of confusion left, but assuming that will addressed in the second book. While this wasn’t my favorite book, I am excited to see where this story goes.

This is a great read for YA readers!

This was such a great fun story. Love the concept of time travel. The author picks a great time to have the characters visit; Versailles during Louis the sun king. Elodie is a witch on wheels and Braxton is a dreamboat. There are references to Oliver Twist but the school caste system made me think of Harry Potter and its houses. If you like young adult fantasy this is for you.

This was a WIN for me y'all. I tore this up in 24 hours. I haven't had a 5 star read in a minute and this was exactly what I needed. Its a dark academia + sci-fi + romance + mystery + time travel. I MEAN COME ON. Also tarot card influence, astrology, all that GOOD SHIT.

I loved the pace of the story. I'm not normally someone who enjoys books that are 400+ pages, but the length did not bother me at all mostly due to the writing. I also really appreciate the short chapters. As someone who loses interest when chapters drag, it helped to keep me invested and wanting more.

The characters are frustrating, mysterious, flawed, yet understandable. Elodie though? She can choke. Hate her. I also was really happy that Natasha's relationship with Braxton, while important, was not the main focus of the book. It was just the right amount of romance for me personally.

While I couldn't care less about designer stuff in real life, I think Alyson does a great job of not making that element as important to our characters as their love of the ART (paintings, historical artifacts, etc). Sure, they're high school kids and materialism has influence, but the descriptions of the clothing, etc speaks more to who they are than it being just a flex fest.

And the time traveling element is everything. The contrast between the insane technology and old beauty of historical items is done beautifully. Once the story picks up and we're in the thick of it, it felt the same anxiety/sense of urgency as Natasha. And the ending!! Loved it. Gimme book 2 nowwwwww.

TW: graphic rape scene, grief