I waffled on my rating for this one, but ultimately landed on 3 stars because

1. It was much longer than it needed to be. Some things were too repetitive (e.g., the arguments about how addictive the product was). We also didn’t need to read about so many days of traveling when many didn’t add anything to the story.

2. Aurelia could be bullish and naive and stubborn to the point of annoyance. I think it contributed to the first point I made. There were times when it felt like the story couldn’t progress because of Aurelia’s rampant denial of the circumstances.

3. The last chapter was abrupt and felt different from the rest of the story. What was revealed and how Aurelia processed it didn’t align with the growth her character had been making.

But Weston and Hadriel were pros to this book and I’m going to give the second book a try!