Thanks to Penguin Canada for an ARC!

I’ve gotta say, Aislinn Brophy has written perhaps the best form of enemies-to-lovers I’ve ever read. I won’t give too much away but basing the enemies on one of the characters being totally oblivious was perfection. I really enjoyed the relationship in this one and how it develops.

I read an early copy so I’m hoping some edits made it to the final version, but the narration dragged a bit for me. It felt very teen movie-esque. So, so many “ughs” in the dialogue and description and parts of the description felt dumbed down and over-explained. That said, by about the halfway point the story was so compelling I couldn’t put this book down.

While the early narration wasn’t a hit for me, I did find it a realistic teen story. Though I was begging these characters to please, for the love of God, share what you’re worried about with the people in your life, I liked that this was addressed and became a learning opportunity for these teens.

The book takes place in an alternate world than ours — of course, there is magic — but it was also uncomfortably realistic in the way racially marginalized characters had to deal with subtle racist remarks, how powerful people retain their power, and so on. There aren’t any easy solutions here but it offers a look at some real-world ways that different abuses can be handled.