Alright, so firstly, I want to thank NetGalley for providing me with a digital arc of this book. I'm not going to lie, this is one of those instances where you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover (or description, or title). I haven't even downloaded this book, because I saw how poorly rated this was by almost everyone who read it. I know I should and could read this to form my own opinion, but I'm also a firm believer that you shouldn't waste your time reading books you don't like. I'm sad to see this book receive so many DNFs and negative reviews, because the premise seems awesome, the cover and the title are absolutely beautiful. I don't want to rate it 1 star if I haven't read it, so I'm just giving a neutral 3 stars to submit my feedback.

DNF @ 15%, for several reasons.

1. The writing was, to say the least, chaotic. The narrative tone shifted constantly, so no real sense of the stakes (as seen through the protagonist's eyes) could be had. I think the "by way of Laini Taylor" bit in the blurb refers to how both books are written with very purple prose, but the writing here showed no control; it was florid, filled with constant similes/metaphors, and awkwardly phrased.
2. The worldbuilding was non-existent. Granted this is a contemporary setting, so the technological levels made sense, but Luna Island itself did not. A super-twee village off the east coast where everything is covered in roses and everyone is beautiful and kind and cheerful, and that somehow turns away most people who try to visit? Great concept! But the execution had no depth, and Laina's immediate acceptance of her surroundings felt so jarring and false.
3. Laina is...not much of a character. No one is given much depth, but Laina spends most of her time wallowing over a great disaster in her past, and how that's made her monstrous and hate-able -- and all of this is information we're just told, while Laina plays coy about telling us exactly what happened. Which would have been fine -- a slow reveal works in many stories -- but this was just...hamfisted.
4. We're not given much context for the plot. Granted, we don't need much, but we're not anchored in the story from the beginning because all we get are overblown descriptions of the island and not, say, Laina's interior thoughts about it beyond "how can I, a monster, live in such a beautiful place?".
5. I think there's the start of a good story here, in how parental expectations and love being withheld/the child being punished when those expectations aren't met, and if that had been centered more, the plot and Laina's emotional journey would have more weight and more energy as the story moved forward.
6. A total pet peeve: why do we need to know so much about her nails? Are they plot relevant? Unfortunately, I will not be reading further to find out.

I really wanted to get into this book, but sadly had to DNF this at 9% through. Right from the beginning things are chaotic and the writing is all over the place with nowhere to go. The FMC’s head voice is too whiny for my taste and I couldn’t really follow the insane amount of descriptions of where she was and what she was doing, it was information overload with no purpose. Just not an author for me. But I want to thank the publisher for allowing me to receive this book before being published.

✰

I saw Phantom of the Opera, paranormal mystery and mythology, and I was immediately interested. Unfortunately, I almost dnf this book several times, which is so disappointing :(
From the first page, I already knew this wouldn't be my kind of book. Normally, I can get past overly elaborate descriptions like this book has, but something about the writing didn't connect with me. I also felt like there were way too many similes/metaphors used to the point where it almost felt tiring to read. This isn't an exaggeration, I'm pretty sure there were at least 1-2 unnecessary comparisons per page.
I was also confused by the setting. I thought this took place in a fantasy world, so I when I realized that it didn't, it definitely took me out of the story. The plot and the romance didn't really manage to capture me at all either. It's honestly a shame, the premise had potential!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The descriptions inside the book are SO PRETTY. It's very pastel ocean beach vibes. Like planet earth but an alternate version where everything tastes like rose macarons. There IS a horror element though, and I don't want to spoiler.

Best read this book while eating something sweet with ballet music or ocean waves in the background, or pretty scented candles, at least.

Please note : the rating is not valid because I DNF this book.

I will not be finishing this story. I stopped this book because it feels all over the place and chaotic in the worst way.

The main character is very much “woe is me” and I don’t fit in and I’ll never have friends. Frankly, there isn’t anything about her that makes me connect or want to like her. If I don’t like the main character, that ruins a huge chunk of the book.

The writing is both overly descriptive and yet very bland. It gives too much descriptive on the buildings and items within the world and yet you are left confused about what’s actually going on. Honestly, it gives of AI vibes (sorry to the author if you didn’t use AI)

This book lost me at the “cult” of angel’s /the devil with human sacrifice every seven years. I thought I was reading about a Phantom of the Opera retelling? Not whatever this is. The cover and blurb pulled me but the actual book pushed me out.


Not to mention that the entire time, our FMC keeps whining about “the deed” and how she’s a monster. Because she flubbed an audition, her parents got mad which set her off to strangle her mom? What?!

I will not be sharing this review on any of my platforms out of respect of the publisher/author.

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for saving me some cash on this one.

I was after this book because Phantom of the Opera was referenced.... and the cover. Getting the arc, I dove right in. I don't hate read books, I absolutely dislike DNF'ing, too. But this book. This book was probably one of the worst reading experiences. Ever.

Lets start the with cover: with a cover like that, I thought it would take place in a fantasy world, or a world with fantasy vibes. Wrong. This takes place in the United States. On a fantasy island somewhere on the east coast called Luna Island. Now, the strange thing about this island is ... I think it's a cult. Everyone has shops that are called really sweet and saccharine names. Names that would belong with Barbie land. Our main character ends up there, and boy... man, lets get into HOW she ends up there. (You wanna know how EXTRA this town is, check this quote out: The spray tans on Luna Island are different than the ones I'm used to. Instead of bronzing my skin the machine coats me in a veil of golden glitter, like I'm an angel myself.)

Our main character is eighteen (well, 17, she turns 18 in the book). You find out that she LOVES to dance, and that she is gunning to be a ballerina. A professional one. Her parents I guess (from her viewpoint) are stage mom and dad and expect the best. (They are also Asian, so cue a lot of focused social commentary about honor, etc. etc.) Well, one day, she wipes out at an audition. Her mother goes off on her and ... ladies and gentleman, she strangles her mother.

I am not making this up. She strangles her mom, and she is shipped off to this island to live with her aunt. Cue a whole bunch of 'I don't fit in' moments of looking at white girls with cupcake dresses and what not. It's at one of these outings she overhears the girls talking about 'angels' You find out that they are 100% talking about angels. This island / town is a cult that worships some angels and do some crazy stuff to get their attention and become their prized winner of the island.

Our boy of this, well, he is one of the angels. His name? Damien. Damien ... which is the name of the antichrist, made popular from the film and book The Omen, and every thing known about the anticrhrist. Well, he is an angel that fell from heaven after the 'Devil' fell from heaven. The devil rescued Damien, his sister, and his pals and force them to find pretty girls to, and I quote, "If the devil has to be trapped in hell, then we will make it beautiful for him". All because the devil saved the angels from the sea.

Excuse me, what?

The romance is really strange, its basically a lot of 'I can't tell you' repeated over and over, and then when she finds out what's going on, he goes "I was trying to save you!"... My dude, your name is DAMIEN. I expect nothing good from you, esp. since you're working for the Devil. (I also got some gay vibes, or sensitive vibes at the least when he took her to his hideaway which has fairylights and pictures of sunflowers, which reminded me of Betsey Johnson's spring catalog.)

There is a lot of strange stuff in this book, which has me wondering if the author is okay. I don't know if it was a self insert, or if it was just a case of things she wanted to say / write but came off badly, but the social commentary was there sometimes in this book and it came on WAY too strong. But, I think the hardest part was: this was a girl who tried strangling her mother over ballet dancing. It was truly bizarre and once finding that out I couldn't her seriously.

Then, there is magic aspect. Since the author REALLY wants to hound home the whole 'ballet' knowledge, the character would act like that type of girl who likes to show off her knowledge by dropping various ballet poses and movements into the book. Okay. Random again. At one point the angel is seriously wounded and she heals him by pirouetting around him. Her rage helps fuel this, and by the end of the book, she gets so angry that she makes this cult island burst into flames and sends a tsunami too. I thought everyone died on this island, but she and Damien clean / heal up the islanders by dancing ballet down the street.

The writing is also very purple prose but it's another level of purple prose that I call 'technicolor' or 'plaid'. There is also an obsession of giving this girl stiletto nails, and the author cannot seem to keep you from forgetting about these nails. At one point, I wanted her to poke her eye out because I got so fed up with her mentioning these nails. Her heart and breath had a lot of stops and sputters that made you wonder if a heart-attack would happen. There is also an obsession with seafoam. Everything was seafoam this, seafoam that, and I've been to beach towns on the westcoast. You are not going to find an obsession of sea foam. But this is cult land so I guess it makes sense they have an obsession with seafoam.

The plot is just really, really, lackluster and the whole event / why these girls are trying to win the coveted spot of chosen girl is for reasons unknown to them - it's more like a popularity thing. Never-mind girls are MISSING from the island (including her new friend's girlfriend). But you come to find out the girls are getting sacrificed and that the Devil needs our female character's powers to stabilize his kingdom under the sea, and the other girls didn't have hate in their hearts to channel the magic to do so, so they would turn into sirens.

The end of the book was absolutely an accumulation of everything I went over and our lead guy saying 'PEACE' after she ballet danced turning him into a real boy. She also gets a letter from LE PALAIS GARNIER asking her to audition for them since they saw her audition video (you know, the one she fucked up on and led to her choking her mom). I was like, WHAT to both the audition request from the Palais Garnier asking her to audition (another fantasy notion) and her angel (now a real boy) leaving her to see the world.

Finishing the book, I think the quote is misleading. There is no Phantom of the Opera vibes from this - unless you mean 'Angel of Music', but none of the angels play music. There is no Hades and Persephone vibes, since nobody is 'stealing' any one away and falling in love / defying family, etc. Lani Taylor's writing is purple prosey, but not like this.

Overall, this has to be a self insert for the author or a creative writing class project. I really don't think this book is going to go over well. The writing, the plot does not match the somewhat pretty cover. You can paint a piece of turd to look like an easter egg but it still is shit.