Writing
Overall, the writing of the book was alright. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't overwhelming spectacular either. The only thing that I noticed was that certain parts of the writing were a bit choppy. There were certain scenes (especially during some of the fights) where I had to go back and reread certain passages because a lot happened in one sentence, which made it hard to follow. What I also think is that the writing style declined when the Layla left the fairy realm and went into the "real world". The descriptions were a lot more detailed and full of life when Layla was still in the forest but when the plot focused on the human world, I unfortunately found the descriptions and the writing to be a bit boring.
World building
What I absolutely loved about this book was the mythology behind it. The fairy world and their magic was by far the most interesting aspect of this book. I would have loved to have spent many more chapters exploring the hidden fairy forest, but unfortunately most of this book plays out in the "real world". While I'm personally not an export in this field, it's obvious that Celtic mythology and folklore definitely play a big part in the foundation of this book and its plot. For example, we are introduced to the cràdh, a spirit which has taken refuge inside Layla and saddens and burdens her soul. Overall, I would say that the world building - the fairy world and its rich history in general - definitely stands out as the best part of this book. I would have definitely loved to have seen more of the world-building and fairy world explored in the book.
Characters
I loved Layla as a character! She was headstrong, defiant, fierce, bad ass and everything else you could want from a strong female lead. While you can definitely tell that she greatly suffers from being an outcast and also from her cràdh, she fights against her demons and ultimately grows and becomes a stronger fairy.
Unfortunately, the other characters just didn't interest me as much. Ian, Jack and Buzzard were all interesting in their own way, but they lacked that special unique spark of personality that I know and love so much from other fantasy books. I would have really liked it if the author would have explored more aspects of their detective operation and gotten into some more background in their lives, especially the history between Ian and Miranda. Their personas just lacked that special something, which is really a shame because a good chunk of this book focuses on their interactions.
Plot
The plot itself was fine, although I would have preferred it to have explored some more environments than just that one underground cave where the Harvester was and the church. Most of our characters stay in one area for most of the book which (at least in my opinion) made the plot end up feeling a bit dragged and boring at some parts. The plot also sort of felt a bit repetitive, since most of the scenes either consisted of fighting off something with magic, worrying about the fairies, or discovering the underground cave. However, the saving of the fairies and finding out what was actually being done to them was definitely super exciting and was packed with a lot of action, which I really appreciated.
The twist at the end, where Ian gets turned into a dragon was probably the most shocking part of the book as I did not expect that to happen. Like, what even?! I'm really intrigued to see how that will develop in the following books and it definitely added a whole layer of excitement to the plot.
Closing thoughts
I did enjoy reading this book, although it definitely could have done better in certain areas. Mostly, what really made this book stand out to me was the world-building (the mythology, the fairy history, Celtic roots, etc.) and Layla herself. The plot was alright but fell short in some ways. I would be interested in picking up the next book when it comes out though, since the ending of this book definitely sets up an interesting story for the sequel.
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ stars
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