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3.5 Stars ��

“I’m keeping you,��

“You always had me, Rook. Always.��

It’s so silly. Everything is so silly.

Look, I had fun. Was it the pinnacle of literature? Absolutely not. Was I nauseated and rolling my eyes at the religious metaphors about Lucifer and Lilith? Yes. Were there inconsistencies and typos? Hell yes. But I had fun and I would read again.

Starting off, let’s do a quick rundown of the negatives. There were so many typos and grammatical errors. The atmosphere and the tone were consistently inconsistent (how do you have a scene about wanting to avenge your dead sister and the next be about playing Capture the Flag?) and there were so many unnecessary quotes, moments and metaphors that I’ve complained about before. This was just the writing of Monty Jay, I didn’t think that was going to change and it was unfair for me to hold it against them—especially if I said I was going to continue the series. So, I’m not—I rated it based on everything else. But, I gotta tell y’all. The metaphors were so over the top. The narrative was omnipotent—how would Sage know that Rosemary would want Silas to move on and find love again? How do these people keep coming up with the same assumptions? It was lazy writing, but, I understood this was part of the writer’s style.

Doesn’t mean I won’t call it out, though.

Regardless, it was a fun time. I kept going back to their story, I kept reading on. That accounted for something.

First thing first, I liked Sage. I absolutely adored her. She was refreshing from Briar in so many ways—she was multifaceted, she had her own goals and ambitions and you could see a clearer picture of her motives and morales. I loved the scene where she was being a mean girl, I loved the scene where she hit Rook back. I also loved when she was with Silas�� brothers and she was kinder and soft with them. There were different layers to Sage, which I appreciated. She wasn’t just a mean girl—she was insecure, she cried, she was kind, and she had grief. I appreciated that.

Secondly, I enjoyed Rook. Again, breath of fresh air compared to Alistair. He was full of whimsical metaphors and preached about wanting to remove the poison from his veins (Sage) which was overdramatic, but still. I liked his character. He was emotional, and he kept consistent with that trait. He was also downbad for Sage, which I liked. The way he was protective of Silas and his friends was prominent in his narration but purposeful. I didn’t necessarily understand why he kept everything in his head so much, especially about taking the blame for everything and faulting himself for Silas, but at least it was consistent in his storytelling.

But what I truly enjoyed was their romance. You got to experience two sides of their stories—the one before, then the one after. Admittedly, their initial relationship was a fast burn. Sage got sprung on about her engagement to Easton and she wanted to escape—finding solace in Rook. It went on from there. It was a physical but as emotional relationship. I believed this is what lacked in Alistair and Briar’s story—their intimacy. Rook was caught up in Sage’s truths and he demanded it, but it opened up a side of her that allowed her to trust him. Otherwise, they would’ve stayed away. However, I thought their high school relationship was too short. I understood it was for the length of the story, but 13 chapters was not enough for the payoff. When Sage told Rook that she didn’t love him and didn’t care for him in their breakup, I found it unrealistic that Rook wouldn’t clock her ass for lying. I mean, he was doing it the entire time and suddenly, he believed this lie? It was made for angst and tension, I understand, but I wished he realized it. Anyways, after that, in college, I appreciated when she did tell him. The miscommunication was not stretched out longer than necessary and I fucking loved the fact that Rook didn’t want to hear it but Sage persisted and kept going—forcing him to hear her truth. A lot of books would use that as a gateway to extend the miscommunication but MJ did not. I appreciated that heavily. Afterwards, everything fell into place, Rook killed Cain, they got together, and then the whole incident with Silas happened, blah blah blah. He branded her and they were finally a couple.

But I gotta say, I am very excited for Thatcher and Lyra. She killed to protect him? He was being obtuse and emotionless when the cop held a gun to his head? My favorite psychopath, let’s go!!!