Reviews

This was a fun easy to read fantasy about enchanted horse racing.

I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this book. All four main characters were interesting and likeable.

exlibriscass's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

𝘚𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦

I was really excited for this book when I saw the comps for it - Peaky Blinders is one of my favorite shows and I adore Six of Crows so I knew this was going to a fun read and it did not disappoint. You know what I love more than found family? A morally grey found family and an author who isn’t afraid to let her characters lean into the darker parts of themselves. All the characters were great and I loved how complex and constantly shifting their relationships to one another was.

I also adored the magic system! It was interesting and unique but also relatively easy to understand without too much explanation. I think it’s hard to walk that line when using a magic system you don’t see in every fantasy book and Josephson pulled it off!

This book did float between 4 stars and 5 stars for me towards the end. Some things during the final stretch felt rushed and I didn’t love how Kira’s family, for how important they were to her, were sidelined for the whole book - only appearing when plot convenient. However! That ending absolutely dragged it back up to five stars. I love how the relationships were made even more complex and the stage she set for the next book.

As a side note I also want to point out how much I love and appreciate having a bi FMC in a love triangle with a male and female character. As a bi person myself I often get a bit disappointed in books with bi FMC whose love interests are two different men and only flirts a little with some woman at the bar. Of course that is still valid representation but it just fills my heart to see a bi FMC developing a relationship and feelings for a man and a woman.

asiya_can_read's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

boldgirlreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

ladylovestead's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.0

I enjoyed this story. Magical horse racing. Peaky-blinders-esque atmosphere. My issues lie with the editor and not the writer. The editing was super sloppy--it read like an ARC instead of a finished work.

More...