Described as "an Ethiopian-inspired debut fantasy retelling of Jane Eyre," how could I not pick this up? Having now read it, I don't see a lot of resemblance to Jane Eyre beyond it being set in a castle whose owner is named Magnus Rochester, but it IS an interesting piece of worldbuilding. We don't ever see a lot of the wider world, only the small village and the cursed castle in the desert, but through mentions we learn it's somewhere where the residents are predominantly Black, however the staff of the castle are almost exclusively white because, apparently, all the locals know better than to go and work in a cursed castle.

Magnus, the wealthy young man who inherited the castle and his father's fortune, also inherited his father's curse - the "evil eye" has afflicted him, and now nobody can look him in the eye without resulting in him turning into a cursed hyena at night to kill them (the embodiment of the evil eye itself). Our heroine, Andromeda, is what's known as a debtera - or at least an unlicensed one. She accepts the job out of desperation, because without a license, her options are limited; and Magnus chooses her for that reason also, knowing someone unlicensed will be more desperate for the work and can't afford to give up.

The system of curses, the haunted castle, the debtera magic (by crafting amulets), and the evil eye details are all very interesting and well described. Of course, since young Andromeda and young Magnus are thrown together, they inevitably fall for each other; I found this rather less believable as they seemed to go rather quickly from immediate dislike to declarations of love. However. Maybe that's a statement on my old and cynical heart more than anything else; if you like romances full of curses and bloodshed and spookiness then you'll probably enjoy this book. If you don't, then would suggest this is not the book for you, of course!