First a warning – this is a two novel story and there is only one out. The second book comes up July 7, 2026. If you are the kind of person who, like me, hates incomplete stories, delay reading this.
Second warning – I understand this is a reskinning of a very popular Harry Potter fan fiction, and that readers of said fan fiction have mixed feelings about this book. I am not a Harry Potter fan at all, so I neither read that originating fan fiction, nor can I really distinguish any tropes in here that are not seen across hundreds of other good girl / bad boy narratives. I am reviewing it on its own merits.
Plot: We’re in a low fantasy sort of world. Aurienne is a magic doctor. Osric is a magic hit man, and he’s sick. Aurienne’s order needs money, and Osric needs healing. So a deal is made, and they’re stuck together till they find him a cure – or he dies. Meantime, a pandemic ravages the country, and every thread of resources to deal with it is being cut off. Weird. Shenanigans ensue.
The world-building is workmanlike. It’s fine. It’s similar enough to many others that you can fill in a lot of the world from context. I appreciate the authors don’t shove a ton of exposition on the reader, but instead drizzle in the necessary information only as it becomes necessary. That said, you don’t want to think about it too deeply. Now that I understand that it’s HP with a face lift, this makes a lot more sense. There are your Good Guy magic orders, and Bad Guy magic orders, and it’s kind of silly.
Still, the characters that fill the world are quite fun. Even secondary characters get to really stretch on the page. Aurienne and Osric’s chemistry is excellent, even if it feels like I’ve seen this kind of dynamic play out a hundred times already. I enjoyed it well enough, but briefly turned feral when I realized I was reading half the story. So clearly I was enjoying it enough to want to finish the damn thing.
Don’t make my mistake.
