Wow this book was excellent. Especially the ending…I’m still reeling and can’t wait to dive right into Misrule. It took me about 50 pages to get into this one, but I stuck with it because lots of reviewers I admire rated it highly- and now I see why. Stick with it, it’s so worth it! Plus the writing is a treat all the way through, and the magic system is deftly woven. Alyce is a wonderful character - treading the line of good/evil, mostly a potent combo of good, misunderstood, naive, and a victim of truly unfortunate circumstances. The author reminds us to give people a chance and not assume ugliness where there could be light. And of course the most shining example of this is the lovely Aurora.

Short summary: a magical retelling of Sleeping Beauty from Maleficent’s perspective (here called Alyce), along with a dash of star-crossed enemies a la Romeo and Juliet.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐