Where do I even begin with this book? It was absolutely everything.

I adored the fairytale fantasy vibes of the first one and they were further developed so beautifully in this book. The world-building was incredibly done and I wish I could visit it! The way Stephanie Garber gave us so much more lore and still left me wanting more made for a book I struggled to put down. The mixture of action scenes, descriptive moments and the building tension between Evangeline and Jacks was masterfully done and I found myself so deeply drawn into this world.

Jacks is, hands down, the greatest romantasy love interest I have ever read. The witty repertoire between him and Evangeline created one of my all-time favourite dynamics between two book characters. Their banter was absolutely top-tier, as was their actual romance. I truly felt like I understood what they were feeling for each other and that it was just so so real. None of it felt forced or abrupt or for the sake of the plot. There were moments that had me giggling, squealing and grabbing my phone to tell everyone how much I loved them, and other moments that had me so captivated I forgot I was in the real world and not there with them. Jacks is just such an incredibly developed character, and his role a a love interest deserves some kind of award. This is how you do a morally-grey villain love interest!

Also, the chapters at the Hollow -- hands down some of my favourite book chapters EVER. I couldn't believe how attached I became to the characters and their romance after those chapters.

The ending... I have no words. It shattered my heart completely and I couldn't stop thinking about it for a single moment. The tragedy was so beautifully done. I exhausted every breath talking about it to anyone who would listen and ran to buy the third book as soon as I possibly could. "Tragic cliffhanger" doesn't do it justice.

I keep saying everything about this book is my favourite and/or some of the best, but it simply is true for everything about it. The romance? Some of the best. The world-building? Some of the best. The ending? One of the best.

I could not recommend this book enough and wish I could bottle up the feeling of reading it for the first time so I could relive it over and over again.