I bought this after reading Wintersong and falling in love with that version of the Erlking. I had high hopes for it, but I also was turned off after buying it and seeing the content warnings in reviews. They’re the sort that usually turn me away from a book, but I decided to give it a go. And, for whatever reason, the content being warned actually didn’t bother me in this book.
The story was very good, but could have used a bit more work. The worldbuilding and magic explanations were scarce, and I came away feeling rather like it was ACOTAR on ice. The relationship between Janneke and Soren was a VERY large part of the book, and while I love a good fantasy romance, I also love a good fantasy worldbuilding, which this one lacked.
Towards the end, though, things picked up story-wise and I was left mostly satisfied. I loved the ending twist and that helped shape my overall opinion of this book.
I’ll be reading the ARC of the sequel in the next week or so, and it will be interesting to see where the story goes and if the worldbuilding improves.
Whimsical Dragonette 