While this book me a while to finish, I feel like it's not completely done. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and felt that their motivations were often strange and unreliable. I love that the protagonist is trans, but feel like the initial "transition" could have been fleshed out a little bit more - we went from Phyllis to Phillip almost on a whim, and then didn't dive into anything else. Beyond that, the magic system also could have been explained a little bit more, because it's such an interesting concept, but missed the execution. Sometimes, it was difficult to follow the first vs third-person narratives through the story - at several points, characters would refer to Phillip as Phillip, and then we'd jump back into Phillip's head. It was a little disorienting to follow. Adeline was a major character, but we almost never get her POV beyond being angry at Phillip or being a dancer. Phillip's feelings for her also appear out of nowhere, and it was hard to root for their relationship when he was suddenly obsessed with her for no reason other than feeling guilty about stealing from Wycliff when supposedly Phillip has stolen many body parts before and never felt bad. I also didn't fully see the relationship that Phillip and Lucent claimed to have - we get snippets, but mostly it felt like the relationships (and the world-building!) could have been worked on for a little longer. Show, don't tell, and all that.

The ending brought down what had been an enjoyable book for me. Around 80% through the book, I realized how few pages were left and how much story there seemed to be left to tell, and I wondered how it would all fit. And then it didn't. The ending was abrupt. Many of the plot threads felt hastily resolved and some of the characters fell away. First Wycliff, then Adeline and Nyx, started with strong presences in the narrative in terms of their personalities and goals -- Wycliff and Adeline even being point-of-view characters -- before dwindling away. Lucent had a lot of set-up as a complex, tragic villain, but not a lot and not consistent development of those ideas. His main motivation ended up not really seeming to matter to him or anyone else. He drops it with very little prompting considering he's been pursuing this one goal for 400 years, killing for it and ruining his own happiness for it the whole time. **spoilers** (Also, if he cared so much about resurrecting his sister or at least tells himself he does, why kill the one man who's been shown to have resurrection powers? At least pretend a bit to consistent goals, you killed your lover for this.) **spoilers** Also, the tragedy of him living so long, but by his nature always falling into the same miserable and inescapable patterns is a compelling concept, but not shown off all that well.

What I liked:
Phillip's coming into himself as a trans man. Despite the fantastical setting and his unusual past, he reads true and relatably as a young trans person figuring it all out, both in his insecurities and fears and in this bright new self-assurance and comfort he starts to find as Phillip.

The trio of Phillip and the two undead girls. They had a sweet friendship developing even if, like many things in this book, I think it could have used more time to keep developing. Their support of each other and attempts to be honest and open with each other (a work in progress but something) were a nice contrast to the unhealthy relationship Phillip had been trapped in.

Lucent's love. Lucent's worst actions are done out of love and to people he genuinely loves. He's not just pretending to manipulate Phillip or Weevil. I think it adds something to the book's discussion of unhealthy relationships to acknowledge that there can be real love, care, and affection mixed with or driving the cruelty. And where other attempts to add complexity to Lucent's character fall flat, this one does work for me.

This was good, but I was left with wanting more, ya know?

First thing I'll say is that I liked Phillip and the (literal and metaphorical) transformation he undergoes throughout the novel. The persona of the duke being the Trojan horse to self-acceptance and love was probably the most interesting aspect of the story. The exploration of toxic love and its complex effects was the nice cherry on top, too.

The other characters were fine, I guess. The POV shifts from Phillip's first person to a variety of third persons throughout the story, and it had different affects on me depending on the character. Lucent's POV was the most intriguing to follow; his thoughts allow some insight to how toxic people think. Wycliff, the aforementioned mark, felt the least necessary, as it felt like it was repeating much of the themes and messages of Phillip's storyline. Adeline only had a couple set in her POV, but it felt underdeveloped compared to the others. The rest of the side characters, other than Madame Beatrice, didn't really resonate with me enough to properly remember them.

The worldbuilding could have been cooked far longer. The story takes place in a fictional country akin to Victorian England, but there wasn't much given to fully separate the two in my mind. There's a caste system/royalty claims, but what are the politics? The country's relation to others and its own people? I had lots of questions that about the world that the story just wasn't all that interested in answering. I also wish we got more in-depth about the magic, maybe see a wider variety of people other than Phillip and Lucent.

All in all, this has its merits as a book about a trans main character, but the other elements could have been given the same amount of care/depth.

The premise of this sounded great, but it just didn’t fully deliver for me. I kept waiting to become more invested in the characters and relationships but it never really happened. I did love the trans MC and his journey from to Phillip, but other than that most things fell flat. The magic and worldbuilding was never really explained and the ending seemed abrupt. There was just a lot of different things cobbled together that didn’t fully work for me.