I usually rage when I pick up an adult fantasy or gothic story and it turns out to be YA in disguise, but I actually enjoyed this one. I loved the writing. I didn’t care if the world building didn’t follow a culture or inspiration, the author could have just pulled tree names out of a hat or picked her favorite spindly trees to use for last names and that was fine with me. 

I loved the Nightmare inside of Elspeth, I enjoyed the various characters and cryptic conversations. I even enjoyed the small stolen moments with Ravyn and also didn’t even care that his name was all fancy with its Y. 

Overall, the vibes worked for me in this one and I’m eager to see what will happen next. 

If you’re looking for anything overly complex as an adult gothic fantasy OR you grabbed an adult fantasy romance for spice, maybe go pick up something else, but if you can enjoy a nice story with a misty backdrop and a little bit of romance, this is great!