This was a different take on a love story, and wow did it bring us for a ride. It was one where it wove old tales and current (in the story) events. Having the story develop where the main character is reborn and remembering his past lives while getting to know the female main interest again was a good use of details and explanation of the way the two are intertwined. I LOVED that she as the grump and he was the sunshine, because that rarely happens, and in this story it was heart warming to read how much Sai loves his mother and what he would do, and how far he would go for a cure for her. The imagined folklore characters were creative and...horrifying, but the villain being tied to the two main characters was something I was NOT expecting! 5 stars for this one! thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

Immersive world-building, dynamic characters, and a charming romance. The gradual development of the characters kept me engaged, though I did predict some plot twists. However, the overall story was worth reading.

While I didn’t LOVE love this book, I do appreciate that this is a romantasy written from the POV of a male character, which is so rare to find. I loved that perspective even when the overall story didn’t pull me in as much as I expected it to.