A winding family tale of betrayal and grief. I was pleasantly surprised by how much this book took me in, the story grabbed me and didn't let go. The audio narrator breathed life into the story, capturing the nuances of the story. A fun and dramatic story of magical crime families going to war.

This book has so many twists and turns and plot twists. I obviously can’t go into details but wow, I did not expect a lot of them. It also has lots of angst and suspense and a will-they-won’t-they set of romances that you couldn’t help but root for.

There’s a lot of POVs. It mostly follows members of the two rival families, which just there is 12 characters, but we also get a few POVs of a different side characters. I’d say the main POVs were probably the eldest and youngest Antonova and Fedorov siblings. It was kind of a lot to take in and get used to. I understand why Blake did it though. Seeing each siblings' POV really helps to understand them, their actions and thoughts. It helped us see how complex they all are. I don’t think it would’ve had the same effect if they didn’t all get a POV.

That being said, there was a very big cast. They don’t all get the same amount of time on page. Especially not all of the Antonova sisters. They were the hardest to keep track of. Masha and Sasha were the main two. Most of the others are more background characters. I don’t really remember much about them. I know a bit about the twins and that's it. The other three I don’t remember anything. I definitely think there could have been less siblings.

None of these characters are really good or bad, they’re all morally gray. At times I was rooting for them and sympathized, while other times I didn’t understand their actions and was mad at them. At time I didn’t know who I should trust or root for, all the way until the end.

My favorites were Sasha and Lev. Both of them being the youngest of their families, I think were the most innocent and real. None of them had to get their hands dirty as much as their siblings. Though I did find their romance was a bit quick and didn’t built very long until they were head over heels.

I kinda of expected there to be some queer characters, but sadly there was none. I would have loved if there was. There was certainly enough characters.

I think this book will be compared to These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong a lot, and for good reason. They’re both Romeo and Juliette retellings, have rival families and forbidden romance. I would definitely recommend this book for fans of that one.

The narrator did a great job.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed These Violent Delights, or anyone who likes rival magical families, forbidden love, lots of twists and supporters of women rights and wrongs.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book

Exquisite writing, as per usual from Olivia Blake. Cryptic, sarcastic and complex characters. Twisty plot that keeps your brain working. The ending was very satisfying, I did not really see that coming though I think it was quite foreshadowed. The eerie, dark and magical atmosphere definitely convinced me. Has a hint of Romeo and Juliet retelling!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this book

This is a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet with magic and mafia like families thrown in.

Two families have been feuding since the matriarch of one refused the marriage proposal from the patriarch of the other in favor of running her own family.

But of course there’s love between the younger generation that gums up the feud. And maybe a younger sibling with something to prove.

Overall this is a fascinating premise that somehow flopped for me. I did not enjoy the melodrama, the romances weren’t that convincing, and, for whatever reason, I hated that the adult kids called their parents ‘’mama” and “papa”.

Not for me but maybe for you.