Rory Powers weaves an incredible tale in this debut novel. Her setting is breathtaking and her characters are rounded, the horrors are new and chilling, and the characters reactions strike the reader as both realistic and relatable, as she handles some of the messiest aspects of human behavior. The prose is beautiful, with so many lines that made my heart ache. I usually dont care for romance but this is the best romance I've read all year, and is my current favorite in the lgbt+ fiction category. The suspense in the plot doesnt drop even after the last page, and the book was about three inches from my face between the middle and the end. The book ends in a fulfilling way, where enough is explained for the book not to need a sequel, but enough questions remain that we all want one anyways! Even if it's not a sequel, I can't wait to read whatever Powers writes next.