I received an ARC of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Longest Autumn is a rich, complex book -- one to be sipped and savored. Avery builds a world steeped in faith, with a central mythology that feels at once novel and familiar. The book follows the protagonist, Tirne of Autumn (relatable, complex, and with chronic illness rep), as she works to unravel a mystery that is both deeply personal and that could mean devastation for all. But in doing so, her relationships -- with friends, lovers, enemies, and her own god -- are tested and transformed. Fans of romantic fantasies with a darker edge will find much to love here.

I won't spoil the ending, but I found it a perfectly bittersweet note to end on. All in all, a rich and rewarding fantasy debut.

4.5 Stars

Me and Autumn? It's a thing.

So when I knew I was going to read this, I was desperately hoping for atmosphere and between chill breezes so visceral I shivered, apple cider kisses, and trails of dead leaves, I got atmosphere in spades.

Tirne is the Herald of Autumn - her duty is to usher him through a magical mirror into the human world to bring on the beginning of that cooler weather, those longer and darker nights, the smell of woodsmoke and fat, orange pumpkins. This is a role that means a lot to Tirne, desperate to be written into her history just like her mother before her.

Only, this year, something happens - that magical mirror shatters when she passes through it. And Tirne? She's the prime suspect for sabotage.

For someone so hellbent on loyalty to her god, we start to see her ambition control her - stripped of her title as Herald, she first beatifically commits herself to doing whatever's necessary to fix the mirror before food and firewood runs out and people begin to starve and infection spreads. But it soon becomes obvious that she'll also do anything to get her position restored, even if it means putting her trust in people she shouldn't.

Meanwhile, a bourgeoning energy is passing through Autumn and Tirne. Illicit touches are hidden, even though those same touches are against the commandments that Autumn himself laid down.

This was dreamy and sexy and mysterious and a super fun, quick fantasy debut. I'm sad to hear that it's a standalone - I'd have loved more of the lore of the passing of the seasons, more about the scions of each seasonal god, and more about the seasonal gods themselves. I definitely think there's an opportunity for a more expansive universe. Amy Avery is a skilled writer and I can't wait to see what she does in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for providing me with this ARC!

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Flatiron Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fantasy novel where the four seasons are actually gods who enter our world for only 3 months out of the year, and whose presence facilitates is the cause of the changing of the seasons. This novel greatly resembles how the Greeks saw the change of the seasons, with the presence or absence of Persephone in the Underworld, but takes it further to include all four changes - Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn.

Our main character, Tirne, is the Herald of Autumn - in charge of bringing the spirits of the dead to rest, and in bringing her god of Autumn into the world when it’s time to change the season from Summer. However, in her sixth year of doing this - when exiting the Mirror to bring the gods into the mortal realm - it breaks, shattering the connection and trapping the world in an endless autumn. Nothing can grow as everything slowly dies, and eventually famine hits the world and the spirits of the dead pile up, with nowhere to go.

Tirne is the main suspect for the breaking of this Mirror, and she must investigate on her own to try to uncover the real culprit before time runs out on the living. With her connection to Autumn, she has a bit of his magic, and the ability to feel his emotions - as the longer he remains in the world of the mortals, the more mortal he becomes.This is dangerous, as if he spends too long in the mortal realm he may no longer be an immortal god, and instead simply a man.

I wanted to like this novel more than I did. Even with its very Greek retelling feel, this novel never fully did it for me. I’ll explain further in detail with more specific spoilers, but as I believe this novel to be a standalone I felt much of the worldbuilding and character relationships left much to be desired. (If there is a sequel, then I will revise my statement.) I think if this book had a sequel, it could account for much of the issues I had with this novel, as much of my issues are things feeling unfinished with questions left unanswered.

There are issues with the religion in this novel - much of which are things assumed to be factual, that Tirne discovers to be untrue - that is simply brushed over at the end of this book as things go back to Square One. In the same way, she has 3 relationships throughout this novel, all of which do not really go anywhere and end with none of them together - which makes the reader feel a bit empty when the book ends. There were also parts of this book near the end that felt rushed, and as I was reading it (and especially after the ending) it felt like a good 100-200 pages of plot was removed and only the main events were kept. However, near the middle there is a bit of a stagnation where nothing really happens, which I think should have been the parts that were edited for brevity instead.

However, overall I did enjoy this novel and would recommend it for a reader who enjoys novels that feel like Greek myth retellings. As I was reading it, I was never bored and I cared about the characters and what happened to them. I enjoyed some of the romances in this novel, and thought the character relationships to be interesting and diverse. I also enjoyed the disability representation with the main character and her chronic headaches.

SPOILERS AHEAD: I kept these at the very end, so you could read my full review without reading any spoilers. These are more specifics with the issues I had with this book, but in describing them I’d be spoiling those events. Also, I may or may not get mean so don’t shoot the messenger, I warned you.


RELATIONSHIPS:

I thought the development and inclusion of some of the relationships in this novel to be unnecessary, and a few times it felt like they were included only to keep this novel from being classified as YA.

Our first look at this is when Tirne returns from the ceremony with the broken mirror, and meets up with her childhood friend. Instead of communicating, they immediately have sex to distract herself from her issues - and apparently, them hooking up when she’s back in the mortal realm is a regular occurrence, despite him having another relationship. I’m not a prude or saying friends with benefits can’t exist, but this felt like an abrupt change of pace when it happened and I was more surprised than anything. Reading this didn’t do anything for me, and I kind of just read it waiting for it to finish so we could continue the novel. (Also, I clearly missed something when he was introduced because I legitimately thought he was her brother before this point, but clearly I was wrong, lol. That’s how out of left field this development was.)

The other relationship that I kind of thought was unnecessary was her attraction to her god Autumn. I have to admit, while this concept drew me in (the relationship between the two developed kind of like in Gods of Jade and Shadow), with Tirne’s other more prominent relationship this never impressed me. The description says this is a forbidden romance between the two, but it’s more of a blink and you’ll miss it - and then, he’s back in the realm of gods and no longer has human emotions so it’s done. We suddenly go from her being his Herald, to her noticing how “attractive” he is, and then as Autumn becomes more human with more and more emotions - he starts breaking the rules to be with her. (Also, this is a personal gripe, but they hook up after she’s had months of starvation to the point she can’t eat without severely watering it down for her stomach - the entire time they had sex I was like “hello???? HELLO???? Miss ma’am, how do you have the energy for this?” It’s just hard to get into the idea of them having sexytimes when she’s described as being sunken and skeletal, okay.)

Her final relationship, and the only one that actually fits in this novel, in my opinion, is with a sorcerer named Sidriel. I was kind of surprised this turned into an actual relationship, because he’s such a morally ambiguous man who at times is a significant antagonist. However, their chemistry develops fairly well from hate sex to something more, and I wish the novel focused more on this than her other romantic entanglements. There’s supposed to be some drama between her being attracted to the other two as opposed to him, but honestly I feel like the drama could have been even if she wasn’t attracted to Autumn, and just him to her. Also, there’s literally no development to this relationship, as after the events of the novel he breaks it off with her and she mopes on her own. And then, she decides she NEEDS closure and goes to see him again - and once again, he just says no and then she accepts it?

Tirne had an entire dynamic where she had to break up with a significant other because she only spends 3 months out of the year in the mortal realm. However, after the events of the novel she has to remove Autumn’s magic and live there full-time. I thought for SURE that would be the catalyst for her and Sidriel to be together, as he had lost one love to the gods, but gained another - and she learned to prioritize being with others over her obsession with being important. But no, they just say “Nah” and move on. Sure I guess?

RELIGION:

I won’t go as in-depth here as I did the relationships, but there were multiple MUTLIPLE times we see the cracks in the facade of their religion after Tirne is cast out of it.

We begin with her having a less than stellar relationship with her aunt, who has rejected the main religion to follow a more offshoot one that focuses on the creatures who remained after the 4 season gods defeated the master of those monsters. Tirne doesn't believe in those monsters at all, and her aunt thinks that the gods are poisoning the world with their magic - and so, their relationship has frayed beyond repair.

However, when Tirne is cast out of the temple and must live on her own, she reconciles with her aunt and slowly starts to see the legitimacy in what her aunt believes. Tirne is told a hidden truth in the history of their religion by Autumn - a secret so major that she can’t tell a single other person - but refuses to see her aunt’s point of view when she says that there are two sides to every story. Even when Tirne begins seeing the creatures and monsters, she only “joins” that religion when she has nothing else to turn to - and even tells Autumn that she never abandoned him or her beliefs. This I understand, but it seems that the second her aunt dies and they fix the Mirror, Tirne goes back to Square One and never even THINKS about the truths she discovered away from the temple, and from her aunt.

This also goes into the conflict caused by the main bad guy, who is the cast away god from their religion origin story. He doesn’t seem to have much of a plan, and then at the very end he simply just tries to stab Autumn as he is fully mortal, rather than killing him in his sleep - as he could have very easily done. His reasoning is that by doing this he proves to the people that the gods are fallible, but I think a god dying would ALSO do that, no? However, because he randomly does this in a crowd of people he’s immediately caught and his blood is drained to fix the Mirror. The End. (What????)

This is what I mean by saying I think this novel would highly benefit from a sequel. As both the relationships and the religion are kind of shuffled back to the same status quo we had at the beginning of the novel, and unless this is further explored it kind of feels like a “what was the point?” to the reader.

A sequel could explore the issues with the religion, now that Tirne is no longer the Herald of Autumn and an important member of it. It could give context to the villain’s motivation (who was in a relationship with her best friend and may have had feelings for him) - where we could find out that using his blood on the mirror to fix it, and “killing” him, was his original plan all along. We could also learn more about the truths of the religion, and whether or not Autumn and the other gods are really as benevolent and trustworthy as they seem. And finally, we could explore her relationship with Sidriel as they both learn to live with one another without the issue of the Mirror or past lies hanging over their heads.

In all honesty, if we get a sequel I think I’d enjoy this first book much more, as my issues are with this novel being a supposed “standalone,” where it brings up a bunch of issues and then never solves them by the end.

A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC and audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

We are presented with Tirne, the Herald of Autumn. As a mortal ,she serves her god by ushering the souls of the dead to the underworld each day and helps in the transition of the seasons from summer to autumn to winter. From the beginning I was captured by the atmosphere of the book as the author wove ways to represent the changing of the seasons and the way autumn brings about death, change, chill, and hints of warmth and comfort.

However, fairly quickly, Tirne is accused of being the force which breaks the mirror associated with the transition of the season, allowing one season to exit the mortal world and one to enter. It soon becomes her fanatical mission to repair the mirror and restore order.

In truth, I felt like the story started strong but went downhill after some time. Personally, the last quarter of the book didn’t feel as cohesive and well thought out as the rest. I also feel as though the romance was trying to be like similar books but didn’t hit the mark for me. All in all, a pretty good debut novel and I look forward to seeing what more may come from this author.

I wanted to like this way more than I actually did, at least for the amount that I read. I could not, for the life of me, get into this book. I feel like it very much reads as a debut novel and while the premise sounded interesting, it just could not keep my attention.

This was such an interesting read where mortals and gods work together to usher in a new season and guide out the old. Tirne is the Herald of Autumn and spends most of her year in Sylvus, the land of the gods, only spending Autumn in the mortal world while also ushering the souls of the dead to their resting place in Sylvus. When the magical mirror that allows the seasonal gods to move in and out the mortal world shatters, the world is stuck in perpetual autumn while everyone tries to find a way to repair the mirror.
Tirne must navigate the temple politics, a god who grows more mortal-like everyday he spends in the mortal realm, and really take a hard look at herself as she tries to regain her Herald position and solve the mystery of the mirror breaking.
I really enjoyed this book, but felt that the blurb was slightly misleading or maybe just overstated the level of forbidden romance experienced between Tirne and Autumn. In fact, I felt the romance between characters really took a backseat to the mirror mystery and the personal politics between the diverse cast of characters. (Also if you’re looking for explicit spice, this is not it. The scenes are very fade-to-black.)
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique, well-written fantasy full of magic and intrigue. Amy Avery has created something special in The Longest Autumn and I hope we haven’t seen the last of this universe.

I don't think this was what I expecting and maybe that is why I couldn't get into it. It is beautifully written and very lyrical. I liked learning about what the FMC did for the god. I wasn't too keen on all of the relationships between the characters and it got very confusing to understand who was with who, but I don't think it really mattered because they just had fun and partied haha. I wish I would have liked it but it sadly just wasn't for me.

Me and Autumn? It's a thing.

So when I knew I was going to read this, I was desperately hoping for atmosphere and between chill breezes so visceral I shivered, apple cider kisses, and trails of dead leaves, I got atmosphere in spades.

Tirne is the Herald of Autumn - her duty is to usher him through a magical mirror into the human world to bring on the beginning of that cooler weather, those longer and darker nights, the smell of woodsmoke and fat, orange pumpkins. This is a role that means a lot to Tirne, desperate to be written into her history just like her mother before her.

Only, this year, something happens - that magical mirror shatters when she passes through it. And Tirne? She's the prime suspect for sabotage.

For someone so hellbent on loyalty to her god, we start to see her ambition control her - stripped of her title as Herald, she first beatifically commits herself to doing whatever's necessary to fix the mirror before food and firewood runs out and people begin to starve and infection spreads. But it soon becomes obvious that she'll also do anything to get her position restored, even if it means putting her trust in people she shouldn't.

Meanwhile, a bourgeoning energy is passing through Autumn and Tirne. Illicit touches are hidden, even though those same touches are against the commandments that Autumn himself laid down.

This was dreamy and sexy and mysterious and a super fun, quick fantasy debut. I'm sad to hear that it's a standalone - I'd have loved more of the lore of the passing of the seasons, more about the scions of each seasonal god, and more about the seasonal gods themselves. I definitely think there's an opportunity for a more expansive universe. Amy Avery is a skilled writer and I can't wait to see what she does in the future.

A big thanks to NetGalley and FlatIron books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The vibes were there, but not to the extent I was expecting.

The Longest Autumn by Amy Avery is a fantasy novel about a girl trapped by the god of Autumn. Tirne is one of four humans rigorously selected to usher the turn of the seasons into the mortal world. Every year, she escorts the taciturn god Autumn between the godly and human realms. Autumn’s seasonal stay among mortals brings cooler weather, changing leaves, and the harvest of apples and gourds until Winter takes his place. This year, the enchanted Mirror that separates their worlds shatters after Tirne and Autumn pass through, trapping both of them in the human realm. As the endless autumn stretches on, crops begin to fail and the threat of starvation looms. Away from the magic of the gods’ home, Tirne suffers debilitating headaches that return with a vengeance. Worse, Autumn’s extended stay in the human realm turns him ever more mortal and vulnerable, stirring a new, forbidden attraction to Tirne. While the priesthood scrambles to find a way to reassemble the Mirror, Tirne digs into the temple’s secrets and finds an unlikely ally—or enemy—in the enigmatic sorcerer and master of poisons, Sidriel. Thrown into a world of mystery, betrayal, and espionage as she searches for the truth, might Tirne lose her morals, her hard-earned position, and the illicit spark between her and Autumn?

This book was good, it wasn't bad nor was it utterly amazing. It was just good. But this is to say that I wouldn't recommend. No, instead I feel like the summary doesn't quite do the book much justice. As it's comp title of Ariadne, didn't live up to the expectation it had set. The world building was interesting, and though it had a strong beginning, the ending was a bit lackluster.

This was fine I guess? I feel bad giving a low rating on a debut novel, but this book just didn’t grip me. It was probably a combination of finals week, reading A Far Wilder Magic at the same time as this, and falling into a reading slump with this book, but it took me almost three weeks to read even though it’s not that long.

There are some positives of this book. The world building was pretty interesting. The magic system, temple hierarchy and court intrigue, and stories of the gods were cool. I also really appreciated the chronic illness representation, specifically that of chronic migraines. I don’t think I’ve ever read that kind of representation in a fantasy before, and I felt that it was very accurate to what many of my experiences dealing with migraines have been like.

As for what I didn’t like…. The plot was very repetitive for most of the book. It was an endless cycle of Tirne attempting to get involved in court intrigue, looking for clues by sneaking into people’s rooms, being used by other people, and lying to her friends. The romances didn’t attract my attention at all, and in fact I barely felt as though I understood where they were coming from or how these feelings developed. I also very much agree with another review that said that the way that Tirne’s story and even the romances wrapped up felt like there wasn’t really a point to telling the story.

I don’t think this book was bad, I just wouldn’t personally recommend it. I wouldn’t want to stop someone from reading it though. Should’ve known better when I saw that the comp title was Ariadne, another debut novel I ended up not liking.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The synopsis of this book very much intrigued me and did indeed keep me captivated. A god falling for a lowly human is a classic trope, and I was excited to see how Avery tackled it. While I am not overall blown away by the book, I think it would be a fitting book during the fall to get you into the chilly mood.

Spoilers ahead!!!

To begin, Avery’s prose does an excellent of creating an ambient mood and atmosphere that truly depicts the chilling entrance of autumn. However, the actual characters do not add to this ambient environment. Personally, I found a few characters frustrating and annoying…<spoiler> (Tirne and Sidriel) </spoiler> Also, the main romance that this whole premise of the book was founded on was not even a main aspect of the book for even the main romance. <spoiler> This was confusing to me because all of a sudden Autumn is all over Tirne, and then not in the next moment. Also, half the book she wasn’t even in contact with everyone, including Autumn. Then he just shows out of the blue, they have sex, and they never acknowledge and both forget it. Just very odd to me. </spoiler>

I think this book would work more as a mystery with romance on the side because going with Tirne to try to figure out who broke the mirror was very interesting. I liked the air of mystery as it added a layer of suspense. But because I was waiting for a bigger romance to ensue, I felt like the plot jumped around a lot.

Despite the plot being all over the place, lots of characters fell flat as their personalities were never truly developed and felt very two-dimensional. Someone would have these motives that would not make sense and it would chalk up to being just a random part of them.

Overall, the ambiance and mystery of trying to fix the mirror kept me going and ultimately finishing the book. While character development and plot structure need some work, this book is okay, especially for this season. This is not to say that this book is bad, it just felt lackluster compared to what I expected to read.

The Longest Autumn had very in-depth world building, one the readers could tell was based on the Greek pantheon. I liked how the gods were based around the seasons and the main conflict was centered around what happens when a season occurs for too long. I also liked how the author picked Autumn to be the longest season instead of something more typical like Winter.

However, I had problem with with relating to the main character. She was very passive. While that may have been the point, it made it hard to care about her. This book also did not advertise the amount of sexual content it had, which I felt was needed because of the frequent amount of it. I also felt the sex scenes took away from the plot and slowed the overall pacing of the book. I was not the biggest fan of the resolution of the story and how tidy everything was at the end. It just felt rushed.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an incredible read. I read the first 70% in one day as I could NOT put it down.

I really enjoyed Tirne as a FMC and thought the 1st POV was done well and the perfect POV for this story. I felt all the mystery, desire, and sorrow she was feeling throughout this book.

LIKES: Her dynamic with Autumn and her friends was really fun. I enjoyed getting to know all of them through her eyes. I have seen some people say they do not like how sex "filled" this book was, but I liked how this religion sex wasn't seen as taboo and people in the temple were to do whatever they pleased. There was LGTBQIA representation and I adored how adoption was presented to same-sex couples and single people if they wanted to become parents. The mystery aspect of this book is what kept me from putting it down on day one. I kept going back and forth on who I thought was responsible for the mirror breaking until some of the pieces began falling together. Characters who you didn't think you would ever like end up getting some redemption. Autumn is exactly how you think a God would be but then as he gets more human you unravel some more about him.

The last 30% was SO SAD. I was in disbelief at how sad it got haha. She lost her friends, Autumn, then her aunt, and was on the brink of starvation. She sold the one thing she had left of her mother to feed herself - a pain and suffering I cannot imagine.

DISLIKES: I wish we got more on the Kildara religion as it's everywhere in the city and Tirne ends up being part of it at some point, but beyond the small overview we get of how it was created, we don't get much more than. Also, her headaches? I get that it's just an incurable illness that she has but I'm still not 100% sure why it would be bad for people to know? Also why could she feel Autumn's emotions?

I liked the mystery, but the two main culprits of the mirror breaking were kind of obvious at some points, like Bix talking to shadows??

As for the love interests, I did like the build-up of Autumn realizing he has feelings for her but omg it was so sad when it all came to. I thought Sidriel was a perfect match for her but I was heartbroken with her when that all ended, but it is nice to have a book end where the FMC doesn't end up in a relationship with anyone and is basically starting her life over.

Quick thoughts round-up on some recent reads:

❄️ The River of Silver by S.A. Chakraborty. I loved the Daevabad series & this companion series of short stories is pleasing for fans. My fave stories are those featuring the love stories we saw in the original books of course. Highly rec this series if you haven’t read it! 4 ⭐️. Out now.

❄️ In Which Winnie Halifax Is Utterly Ruined by Alexandra Vasti. Another wonderful historical featuring the Halifax family that has me super excited about the author’s upcoming full-length historical. Hot & sensitive & with another nice hero. Yesssssss. 5 ⭐️. Out now!

❄️ A Dreadful Splendor by B.R. Meyers. A gothic read featuring a pretend spiritualist & a real mystery. Great sense of atmosphere. I was a little less convinced of the romance in this one but overall it was a fun read with lots of satisfying thrills. 4 ⭐️. Out now.

❄️ The Longest Autumn by Amy Avery. An unsettling fantasy that fell a bit shy of totally engrossing me but that offers a lot to chew on. Chronic illness rep, discussions of faith & humanity, betrayal & loyalty. This one doesn’t totally work for me emotionally or on a story-front but I’m glad I have it a shot. 3.5 ⭐️. Out 01/16. (Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary ARC. All opinions provided are my own.)

📖 have you read any of these? Are any on your TBR?

For me, my reading experience of The Longest Autumn survived on vibes with a tinge of mystery. I love the premise of The Longest Autumn. The idea of the gods of the seasons coming to the mortal world and taking their turns. It gives a very strong Hades and Persephone vibe especially for Tirne who loses everything when the magical portal between the worlds breaks and strands Autumn on the side of the mortal world. Tirne is immediately blamed and takes it upon herself to try to clear her name. As The Longest Autumn progresses, she has to figure out if all of this is worth it, if what she has to give up, is worth it. For me, the mystery is what drew me in, but because of the drawn out pacing it feels languid which, in a mystery, just felt a little unmoored. For me, the mystery needed a few more breadcrumbs and red herrings drawn in to advance this in a way that kept the attention. The middle of The Longest Autumn ends up becoming more character driven, which is something I also enjoy, but with the mystery being the hook leaves it dangling.

This from the beginning had me pulled in the writing was so enticing. also, I appreciate the how as the reader you were kept guessing as to who or what was really happening as far as the main mystery in this world. the lore and history behind the gods in this world were really well done. I did feel for a while in the middle that it was just dragging along but then as it went on, I saw the need for all that felt as it helped round out the end of the story. I did very much enjoy the main characters point of view; I did not expect the romantic development with one of the characters, but it did end up being I think my favorite pairing. the ending was very well wrapped up and I appreciated that. I enjoyed every character in this as although most of them were merely side characters and may have not been extremely vital to the plot, they all seemed very well done and I could get a good sense of them as characters. this was a good story I very much enjoyed my time reading it and would definitely be looking into more by this author.

Tirne, a human blessed with magic from the god of autumn, is a herald who escorts Autumn from and to the mortal world during the changing of seasons. After escorting Autumn per usual, the mirror connecting the gods’ realm and the mortal world shatters, trapping her and her god until it’s repaired. Unfortunately, the longer Autumn stays in the mortal world, the more human he becomes, as well as the more the populace suffers due to lack of crops and cattle, and rampant illness. Tirne is desperate to regain her title and rebuild the mirror, so much so that she finds herself working with a sorcerer with questionable motives. As long as Tirne is trapped, she suffers from debilitating headaches she must keep secret, or risk losing her title permanently. In order to find out who cursed her, Tirne must engage in espionage and muddy the waters of her morals.

The Longest Autumn could be best described as a whodunnit, adult fantasy with a smidge of romance and elements of mythology. I really enjoyed this and thought it was one of the most unique reads I’ve had this year! The plot twist at the end caught me totally by surprise, but made absolute perfect sense. Reading of Tirne’s struggles to regain what she lost, while simultaneously changing her relationships with her friends and family, made me tear up at some points and I thought her character growth was incredibly well done. The beginning was a tad slow, but once the plot picked up, I was hooked! The ending was bittersweet, but the focus on friendship was beautiful, so the lack of a concluding romance was completely fine. I’m really surprised by how much I liked this - I cannot emphasize enough how good this book was. I definitely recommend this to any adult reader - there’s something for everyone here!

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Amy Avery for providing an early copy, I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Flatiron books and Netgalley for the digital galley in exchange for my honest review.

This book started out very strong for me. I was completely intrigued by the magic system, the mystery and the romantic moments. That being said at about 60% in it took a turn. The sex became almost gratuitous...the choices the MC made continued to make so sense with how she was portrayed at the beginning of the story. The story became tedious and the quickly resolved ending...honest to god pissed me off. I was so infuriated with the ending of the story. It made everything feel pointless - the romances, the original conflict...all for nothing. I was nothing but extremely frustrated and infuriated all through the end of the book and honestly I should have DNF'd it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!
The Longest Autumn by Amy Avery is a wonderfully atmospheric stand alone fantasy! The story is about Tirne of Autumn and her struggle to restore the seasons after the destruction of a magical artifact sends her world into peril. While this story is marketed as a forbidden fantasy I feel as though the most impactful storyline involves the main character’s emotional development throughout the narrative. I really resonated with Tirne and her need to set things right no matter the cost. Overall a very refreshing read and I can’t wait to read whatever Amy Avery puts out next!

Mystery, betrayal and espionage? Check, check and check. Fantasy/mythology? Check. Forbidden romance? Check!