Well, I finished it.

I feel so horrible about my dislike of this book. It was one of my most anticipated reads of this year and it simply fell flat. 

For starters, can we not recommend this book as a 'cozy fantasy' when it has a huge graphic slavery plotline right in the middle of it?! A bunch of smaller things added to my dislike of this novel, but the main thing was the discussions around slavery and slaves.

Saying that slaves are just horny men that cannot control themselves around women was a WILD THING to read from a Black author!!

 

I really didn't care for the relationship in this novel, either. I know it was supposed to be attractive how 'protective' he was of our main character but it bordered a little too closely on an abusive relationship!! I mean, their meet cute is

literally him trying to attack her

!! 

This doesn't even touch upon the weird tension between the inn owners, the random group of muggers

who are also rapists

, and a bunch of little things that just made me highly uncomfortable. Recommending this book as 'cozy' because the main character uses humor as a coping mechanism for her life is WILD!! This is about as cozy as roasting marshmallows over a burning house.

An utter disappointment.