It's hard to put into words what I felt at the end of this book. I definitely liked it but at the same time, I'm not gushing over it. It's more a quiet feeling of introspection, sitting with the struggles of the book and understanding the ending that it had.
The book focuses on the grief of Lando, a shapeshifter attending college with a bunch of witches, who is unable to control their magic and who is mourning the loss of their girlfriend, who died at the beginning of summer. When Bastian starts attending the college with Lando, Bastian tells Lando that a spell exists that would bring their girlfriend back to life. They just need to get everything the spell needs and they can cast the spell and get her back. Lando wants that more than anything and is willing to put their life on the line to make it happen.
First of all, I am in no way, shape or form able to make any comment on the overall character of Lando. I want to start with that because I respect the representation, I believe that a character like Lando should exist. I just feel like I can't put words to make any kind of assessment on the existence of the character. I respect their feelings, their thoughts, the struggles portrayed in the book, but I can't say if it will resonate for the readers who identify with Lando's identity. I'll leave that in the expert hands of my peers, who can delve into exactly how Lando's everything worked for them as readers. I liked Lando overall, and their story kept me reading to the end of the book, a sign of a well written character.
Next, talking about the world of the book, I'll admit I was left wanting more detail. It's an interesting concept, the idea of witches and shapeshifters existing in the world today, out in the open. I would have wanted to see more of the ins and outs of their existence and how the non-magic people of the world interact with witches and shapeshifters. There were a few encounters in the beginning of the book, interactions that made it seem like witches and shapeshifters are scorned, but I can't tell if this is an all the time type of thing or if it just happened to be what Lando witnessed.
It is all a bit vague in the sense that the book only focuses on Lando's storyline, finding what they need for the resurrection spell, and it stays focused on that. There is some mention of Lando having a normal job at a store, but we don't see Lando at work, only going to and coming back from their job. Lando is seen at their halfway home and in school settings, only interacting with witches. When Lando and Bastian travel, again, the story focuses on the two characters, and we know there are people around them but they have no bearings on the story.
Even when Lando is at school, there is very little detail given about the courses or the purpose of the school. The only time a little detail is given about the particulars of a school course, it was to give detail for the resurrection plot. Almost made it feel like a school setting was not completely necessary. I feel like seeing more of Lando's struggle with exams and spell casting would have helped with rounding out Lando and filling in details of the story.
I had my suspicions of how things would play out in the book and wanting to find out if I was right is what kept me going with this book. In the end, I liked the reveals and the strength that Lando earned by the last page. I would have wanted more but it still works very well with what readers are given.
Rating on my scale: 7.5 Stars. I'll be keeping Emma Hinds on my list of authors to pay attention to and I look forward to reading more books from them in the future. This release shows they have the chops to create books I'll be interested in reading.
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