I received this as an ARC from the publisher but the review is my own.
Lissa Nevsky has just lost her grandmother and inherited her responsibilities. She has become both feared and respected by her community's members who cling to the ancient beliefs of magical rituals. She is a witch with no friends, a family all but foreign to her and a power that carries great risk. And now she has a new problem, his name is Maksim Volkov and he has come to collect on a debt owed by Lissa's grandmother. However, the price that such an act requires will go against everything that Lissa was taught. But as Maksim fights against a nature so dark its claws can not be dulled by simple folk magic both will come to see that coming to terms with what we will do to survive is the greatest threat of all.
This is a fine introduction to Humphrey's writing style; modern, sharp, gilded with the acid touch of being unlike others. The characters in this story are not just puppets being pulled along with the narrative, they are vicious, snarling, fighting for every step they take and in doing so they ask us to invest in their existence and question ours.
This is not an easy book to review and there were moments when I felt like there was something missing or I was missing something and I am not the biggest fan of the ending. But having said that, Humphrey's has evoked a story full of tragedy, darkness, and the eternal grasp on hope that humanity clings to. In the end I feel that this is a tale of discovery into the frontiers of human nature and reading it will give you a glimpse of yours.
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