Wow, what a ride. The first dozen or so chapters I read with my fists clenched, white-knuckled on my e-reader and my eyes devouring each word like they were starved. The rest of the book didn't hold me in quite as much thrall, but it still held my interest enough that I would be doing some mundane task around the house and thinking about this story, the characters and what was going to happen next. I think it was around the time that Lanny's "true life" ended and her immortal life began when I found my fists unclenching from the sides of my e-reader, but my fingers were turning pages with alacrity. I loved that this was historical fiction that was so well researched at it made the richness of the characters' lives come to life. Along at same vein, I liked how intelligently written this was, using words that I hadn't heard before causing me to get some use out of the click and define dictionary. I love learning new words and this story is rich with them.

What really did it for me is that this story seems so different than any I've read in a long time. It is both a historical, paranormal work of fiction with overlays of the dichotomy of good and evil AND a diabolical love story and typical love triangle. But what's not typical is that all of that love is unrequited. It makes for an intriguing story and one I can't wait to read book 2, The Reckoning. My only complaint is that the ending seemed a bit abrupt or unfinished. There was an excerpt of chapter 1 from The Reckoning that would have worked better as the final chapter of this book in my opinion, a good cliff hanger. But that's pretty minor. I think it would make a good book club book, as there are so many things that could be discussed on the good vs evil and the concept that good people do bad things and bad people do good things, as there are plenty of examples of all of that in this book.

Overall, I loved this book, and I look forward to the next one.