At first blush, this book feels a bit formulaic, like every other YA fantasy you've ever read: residents of a village on the edge of a cliff live out their existence, trying simply to survive while, each year, one of them gets stolen away by otherworldly beings, for who knows what ends.

But, I was okay with that, because some of those stories are pretty good. This one was good... but also not quite what I was expecting.

For one thing, it isn't YA. It's very much adult in theme. And there's lots of sex (but it isn't vulgar; this isn't erotica).

I saw it described as a "slow burn romance", which is also fine by me because while I don't mind a bit of romance in my stories, I'd appreciate it if it's not the main plot point.

Again, I wasn't disappointed. Although if I'm honest, once the burn was well and truly going, I did find it a tad much at times. But if you enjoy romance, you'll love it.

Anyway, I digress. As predicted, the main character has her turn to get stolen away by those otherworldly beings, but what happens when she gets where she's going was entirely unexpected to me. It's original and it's epic, and goes to some really cool places.

I knocked a star off because the romance is not exactly my thing (but it may be yours), and because I spotted an incorrect use of "lay" at one point. I spotted some other issues too, but "lay vs lie" is one of my bugbears, so it's what stuck with me.