This imaginative blend of fantasy, romance, and philosophy introduces a captivating parallel world. The story flows smoothly, making it a quick and engaging read. While the unique concept stands out, the first book feels more like an introduction, with limited progress in plot and character development. Although enjoyable, it's difficult to determine if I would recommend it without reading further into the series.

I loved this different take on fantasy and romance. Metro's writing style is so unique and the world building is so fantastic. I hope to see more stories in this incredible universe she's created. Lilly is a great heroine!

This was a surprisingly quick read for me. I honestly assumed that given how unique this world was, it would take me longer to get the hang of it. Still, I breezed through this book. The style of the writing is not complicated, and the plot develops smoothly enough to keep easy track of.

Having said that I’m reserving too much judgement on this for now, as this is only the beginning of a rather long series. This will without a doubt stick out in my mind as a more singular concept. But by the end I still felt as though in the grand scheme of things not too much was accomplished outside basic outlining and character intros. I enjoyed it well enough to continue but at this point am honestly unsure if I would recommend it to anyone.

A great teen book of supernatural beings & ethics or good versus bad energy. Surrounding the mystery of a disturbed young woman that went into an orphanage
At 5yrs old with no real memories except from dreams of another world totally magical & unlike modern day England. Finally emancipated she had worked at libraries before venturing to France where she rented a room from an eccentric elderly lady that had tones of old tomes on Faeries. She had forgotten her rent one time too many & was thrown out & decided to stay in nearby woods where she had a nightmarish experience that gave her a unique pet & sent her to another world. Thus the start of a life & death quest.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The story was ok. Everything felt more like info-dumping instead of showing or gradually telling important information. The characters were not that interesting overall.

This book had my attention the moment I spot the gorgeous cover. I felt eager to learn more and my feelings got confirmed when I started reading. The beginning of the book felt a bit disorienting, as the story was starting through establishing the setting and the introduction of the main characters, but I wanted to continue readingn onetheless. I can't wait to read the other books of the series!

Thank you BooksGoSocial for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for a review of my honest opinions and thoughts.

The cover of this debut novel by Yana Metro took me by surprise at first. Second, came the illusive storytelling narrative that the author uses throughout the novel. The writing style was so clean-cut but also so dramatic and pretty. The quotes you could find in this book are unlike other books I've read.

The pacing of the story was the third thing I noticed and it definitely watered down the novel for me. It was very fast in the beginning for me, but soon when the climax of the novel was delving, it slowed down to a complete stop. Unfortunately, I feel this way about a lot of YA books and I don't know why I keep going back to the genre, I say this in nearly every review I write about YA.

The writing style alone makes me want to rethink my star rating, but this was a pretty solid three-star. It was good enough, but not the best it could have been without the third-act drama and one-dimensional world. It didn't have a solid magic system and it felt like everyone had different abilities that spawned out of nowhere and with no background information.

3-3.5*

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Despite what they say, it was the stunning cover that drew me to this book. I should have been wary, however, as I didn't find the interior quite matched up. Despite an initial good start, I found the pacing to be off and the romance to be pushed through too swiftly.

What I loved was the vivid world that Metro created, alongside the magical system. I found these to be really interesting without being overcomplicated.

Overall, this was an enjoyable enough debut, it just needs a few tweaks before it cracks into the 4/5* ratings.

DNF at 35%

First of all, what an absolutely STUNNING cover - I can only imagine what this book looks like in person. The premise of a portal fantasy mixed with philosophy and psychological themes had me intrigued.

However, the writing fell very flat and overall read quite convoluted to me. The book seemingly tried very hard to put on an air of mystery, as if we jumped right into the middle of a fairy tale but by 35% I came to the conclusion that so much was happening while nothing was going on. Every scene felt like an underdeveloped exposition of fact and the pacing was overall very stilted.

Unfortunately the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" applied too well in this case.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me an eARC in exchange for an hones review.

This book unfortunately didn't work for me, but I can see how others would absolutely love this. The writing felt weird to me, and I guess it's because when I'm reading a fantasy, I don't expect it to open in the modern day just outside of Paris. This isn't to say that I didn't see the appeal, but the weird wording of some of the book, as well as some weird word choice left me questioning what I was reading and if I was understanding what the author was trying to say.

Pros:
-premise
-cover
-cool title
-gargoyle

Cons:
-the writing style
-the plot, or lack thereof
-flat characters
-lack of development
-boring dialogue

Overall, this reads like a first draft of a book that never saw an editor. The writing reminds me of lightlark.

Me choosing this book purely based on it's cover and it definitely did not disappoint!! Whilst, I do admit initially I did find it slightly difficult to adjust to the writing, I found as the book progressed I simply could not put it down. I really enjoyed the introduction of this universe and its magical rules. The description of the lands were so unique, giving us a proper image of this beautiful enchanted forest. In addition to the unique world, I was obsessed with the characters (especially Hairito!). I feel like the characters were quite realistic and given true emotions that allowed us to relate to the characters, especially the way in which Lily battles her anxiety and with how she grows in herself, finding herself as a person. Counting down the days to the next installment in this series - releasing December 2023.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting book for me to not fall in love with. I really thought this would be exactly my kind of book, but it felt much more childish than I expected which put me off of it. I liked the storyline, I just felt like the characters weren't developed enough on their own to help create a complete image. They were just pieces to make the story move but with so little description or individuality they could all be pawns on a chess board.

The settings are really what I enjoyed in this. There was a vivid description of each place that helped me visualize the locations, and I enjoyed that. If the characters could have gotten a little bit more attention like that I think it would have helped me.

In this story we follow Lily White, who has always felt like she didn't belong in the world, she dreamed of another place, where she would feel safe, loved and would figure out her true self, but will she actually get there?

wow, what can I say? I loved this story! I absolutely loved the character of Vesta and Will! there were so many twists and turns in this story! the character development for Lily was truly amazing! and reading what she goes through makes you sit and wonder how you would have reacted to being in the same position! Because I genuinely do not know if I would have had the strength to go on the journey that she does!

The plot was fantastic! the world building was so good! I enjoyed every single page of this story and I hope there are more!

I devoured this fun dark fantasy novel. The cover caught my eye but the story really pulled me in.

I think my favorite part was the in depth world building. For me, it really makes or breaks a novel

I could not stand the writing style of the first few pages and decided this book is absolutely not for me.

I was intrigued by this book but I did find it very slow paced to the point I almost stopped reading, the writing style was not for me at all but Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I have to admit, this wasn't really my cup of tea. I had really high hopes, partly because the plot sounded interesting and I really love the cover, it's beautiful, but sadly I just couldn't get into the story.
It lacks a sense of direction and a deeper narrative to get behind. Lily, our protagonist, seems to simply stumble into each new scene, which in itself are written superficially at best. Some people might enjoy the very matter-of-fact writing style, but personally I prefer very subtle and nuanced story telling, which makes this one a two star for me. Still, I really appreciate having gotten the chance to review this title! Thank you.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Whilst this book was easy to read, I would say that there is nothing special or unique about it. It is your classic Fantasy Romance with the same plot and the same type of characters. The characters were likeable and there was good character development. I just found that this book didn’t cause any emotional connection between the reader and the book. I also felt that the romance was quite dry and boring. It’s not that it was bad writing, it just wasn’t something I’d necessarily drop anything to read.

What a wonderful past faced read! There were just things happening all the time! Ofc, I almost fell like there was info missing, but here we actually had plenty of explanations of how their world works from the get go, which was a huge plus for me and my ADHD. I cannot wait to read the next book!