Brian Thompson wrote this well and was engaged from the first page, it was a strong start to the Spirit Saga series. it had that element that I was looking for and was engaged with what was happening. The characters had that overall feel that I was wanting and enjoyed the concept and how it uses the urban fantasy element in the storyline. I enjoyed this as a opening chapter and am excited to read more in this universe.

I was excited to pick this book up based on its blurb, but unfortunately it really was not for me.

I'd hoped once we got through the initial setup that the infodumping would be more subtle, and we'd move away from 'telling' into 'showing', but no, that's the book's main mode throughout. The time-travel mechanism was fun if simplistic (yes, apparently Men (still) Think About The Roman Empire Almost Every Day.) I wanted more complexity across the board. The side characters seemed to exist mainly to educate or cause emotions in our Main Character, and generally felt bland and spoke unrealistically. In particular, in how often they repeat each other's names when they're speaking -- a pet peeve of mine in writing, something that stands out as quirky if people do it IRL.

Perhaps if you enjoy thoroughly-explained world-building, and would like a story where the majority of it is a training montage, with thriller vibes for one part, then this book might be one to look at. But I would strongly recommend previewing on the author's website to see if you'll vibe with the writing style first. Also note there are several vivid descriptions of injury, gore and violence throughout, particularly in the second half.