Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
And love makes fools of us all. (Goodreads blurb)
I will admit I went into this book having zero clue what it was about. All I knew was witches, and I was sold! I had wanted this for ages because the cover is absolutely stunning, so thanks to a friend for selling it - and Blood & Honey - to me :)
I will also start off by saying I read both of the books in 2 days. Yeah you could say I loved them! I may be planning on a reread in a few weeks, I already miss Lou and Reid...
Anyways, I loved the book. I did confuse myself slightly for a few chapters, mainly because stupid me didn't realise it was split into two POVs... but after that it was plain sailing! And I know some people hate the 'big titty Liddy' rhyme but I found it so funny and laughed every single time. It didn't get old for me!
I liked the use of the French languages and how it's incorporated into the book, but the setting didn't quite make sense. I had a mix of France and the UK in the 1800s in my head but I think it was meant to be a fictional land? I did love the manor where the heist took place, that was great! I also loved the magic system and the two different witches; the Dame Rouge and Dame Blanche.
I think the plot was really good too. We basically see Lou try to pull off a heist for this invisible ring that's meant to protect her from some unknown person and it succeeds (with consequences). The next day she needs to pee and doesn't use her ring and get caught by a Witch Hunter... Yeah that's pretty stupid but I found that its just part of Lou's personality to not think clearly sometimes. Form there, we see a marriage between a witch and a hunter, where romance blossoms. And for a YA, there were a few unexpected scenes there - I think it should be NA because those steamy scenes were graphic, as well as some of the gory bits. Yeah some of the twists were predictable but the ending was amazing.
So, the characters.
I adore Lou. She's fast become one of my favourite female characters in any book because of her funny personality. She takes no crap - she stands up for herself, is independent and so daring to break the rules of society. Her remarks and comebacks (and just not behaving for the majority of the book) are the best part of the book. I love the fact she's not cast as 'good' or bad' - she is a grey character and doesn't see things in black and white. Her banter with Reid is hilarious too!
Reid fell a bit flat for me. I did enjoy most of his chapters, especially the banter with Lou, and slowly falling in love with her, and battling his beliefs about witches throughout the book - as well as his loyalty to the Chasseurs. I felt we didn't see enough of his personality shine through as some things didn't quite work. We kind of see some emotions go from 0-100 really quick, and there's not much backstory to him except he's an orphan and a witch hunter. I think it was mostly a let down in the in the last 100 chapters when Lou is exposed where it's like 'I hate you' then 'I don't care she's a witch, let's save her'. I loved his fighting scenes though.
Overall, an enjoyable read and I did find it was entertaining throughout, as well as tension and full of actions in the right parts. I loved the romance aspect; it was a great enemies to lovers trope and played out very well. There were a few flaws, mostly to do with the setting as stated above. I would recommend to fantasy fans!
Rating: 4 Stars
Would I recommend? Yes
Will I read the next one? Yes
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