I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, this book is unlike anything I have ever read. The setting was a beautiful, Italian-inspired world, I loved the feel of the five families, and the lush, lyrical descriptions. Teo and Cielo were such amazing characters, we got not one, but two gender fluid characters, and the author did a brilliant job with both of them and their struggles/ feelings/ thoughts when it came to their transformations and their romantic feelings. I gave this three stars because I feel like there were parts of the story that were not as fleshed out as they should have been, like the transformation of Teo's older brother into an Owl, the death of her younger brother and her feelings with that, the two girls who were building an army and their feelings, I cannot quite explain it but there was something left to be desired with this book and I wanted so much more. I wanted of the back-story of the Strega and more with Teo's family, or even Cielo's back story. I wanted more from Teo's own use of her magic and her feelings toward that. I will for sure pick up another book by this author, I think the rep and the magic and the beautiful world were amazing, but, like most YA books I have read recently, there was just something missing for me in this book.
First of all, this book is unlike anything I have ever read. The setting was a beautiful, Italian-inspired world, I loved the feel of the five families, and the lush, lyrical descriptions. Teo and Cielo were such amazing characters, we got not one, but two gender fluid characters, and the author did a brilliant job with both of them and their struggles/ feelings/ thoughts when it came to their transformations and their romantic feelings. I gave this three stars because I feel like there were parts of the story that were not as fleshed out as they should have been, like the transformation of Teo's older brother into an Owl, the death of her younger brother and her feelings with that, the two girls who were building an army and their feelings, I cannot quite explain it but there was something left to be desired with this book and I wanted so much more. I wanted of the back-story of the Strega and more with Teo's family, or even Cielo's back story. I wanted more from Teo's own use of her magic and her feelings toward that. I will for sure pick up another book by this author, I think the rep and the magic and the beautiful world were amazing, but, like most YA books I have read recently, there was just something missing for me in this book.