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I’ve been disliking YA as a genre recently so I did not expect to like this book as much as I did!!! But really this has all of the best ingredients and none of the worst thing.

What there was:
A sentient city with magic bells that will wake up millennia old monsters if they aren’t cut twice a day? Check.
Gargoyles and statues coming to life and chasing people? Check.
Saints from historic legends (along with stained glass artwork of said saints)? Check.

What there was not:
Instalove? NOPE.
Overpowering YA angst? NOPE.
Love triangles? NOPE.

The absolute best part of this book was the setting. The history and saints and statues gave so much depth to the book, and all of that being overlayed on a sentient living city that actually FELT alive was incredible. I would live in Vaiwyn. The saints and their relics were so cool. The belltowers were so cool. Immaculate vibes for an October read.

The second best part of this book was how incredibly well done the romance was. Y’all know I’m a romance hater 99% of the time. There’s nothing I hate more than instalove. But in this book the MC had been FRIENDS with the LI for a significant amount of time before anything romantic started happening. And not the “friends who are really just horny for each other and don’t actually have a friendship� trope I’ve seen so much in YA. They had a genuine friendship outside of their romance. Their chemistry wasn’t just pure sexual tension with nothing actually meaningful to it. That detail alone is enough to make me want to read every book Elle Tesch ever writes.

Bottom line: I LOVED THIS BOOK

TRIGGER WARNINGS (minor spoilers): there’s a scene where Mina is forced to kiss someone when she doesn’t want to. Her body is used against her will by a spirit. Her father died from a plague and her mother became abusive afterwards. A side character is severely alcoholic.