OH MY GOSH. I just finished the book and am still reeling from it. 3.5-4ish stars. I loved the lore in this book. The reason this book isn't rated higher is because it took forever to get interesting. I literally could not get into it until around page 300 where (view spoiler)[ Madrigal and the wishbone situation was finally introduced. (hide spoiler)]. Seriously, I didn't care about Karou at all and it was only slightly interesting when she and Akiva finally met. But man, oh man. When the story becomes about (view spoiler)[ Madrigal (hide spoiler)] ... Wow. I definitely would have liked this book more if there were less Karou and more (view spoiler)[ Madrigal (hide spoiler)]. More M and less Karou would have been amazing. This book was like it rollercoaster: it takes FOREVER to get to the climax, but when it does...it doesn't stop or slow down and you want MORE. The romance is definitely the best aspect of this book. Which is disappointing b/c the author tries to bring other sub-plots to support the main romance one but they're extremely weak.