OMG! 5 Stars! 2021 Favorites List! YAY! I really loved this book and can not wait until the next book comes out! The story is so well written and such an awesome read that I was sad for the ending. I love the world and truly felt like I was right there. The book follows Hunter and Mercy Goode, twin sisters that live in a town created by their ancestors after escaping the Salem Witch Trials and are charged with protecting the five gates to other worlds. As their Mom, Abigail, is showing them how to care for the trees something is not right. No spoilers at all but I highly recommend this book! Thanks #netgalley for the advanced reader copy and I can't wait for release to buy my own physical copy for my forever shelf!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hunter and Mercy Goode are not your everyday witches. They are gatekeepers to five gates that lead to different underworlds. A Norse underworld, a Greek underworld, a Egyptian underworld, a Japanese underworld and a Hindu underworld; all marked by trees that relate to each culture. When the gates become sick with rot and murders begin in their town, can Mercy and Hunter find the courage and strength to mend the gates or will all manners of creatures break through and tear the mortal world to shreds?

Guys, I really want to give moments of this book a 7 star rating, and other parts a one to two star. Overall, it gets three from me but also comes heavily recommended. I grew up reading P.C. and Kristin's House of Night series. I really enjoyed the circle/elemental casting as well as the new take on vampires. Now that I am older(and hopefully wiser) revisiting the House of Night is cringeworthy. So when this little morsel started off MUCH like the House of Night I began wondering if these authors were one trick ponies. Man, did I ever eat crow! The mythological moments in this book are exceptional, and the characters from the gates are epically written. What falls short to me are the Goode twins....mostly Mercy.

For being a twin, Mercy sure doesn't know anything about not being selfish. I would delve deeper into this, but it would involve heavy spoilers and I'm not about that. Hunter is great and made me want to leap through the pages to give her a big hug. Their friends are excellent and their cat Xena is to die for.

Overall, this book has great qualities but I wish we had gotten more with our monsters as they were the true stars of this story for me. I highly recommend this book to anyone 16+ as there is graphic sexual content that is absolutely NOT suitable for younger readers. I look forward to a sequel and am hardcore Team Hunter!