i dont have the faintest on how to feel about this book. it is somehow an amazing book and a dreadful book at once. i loved every second.
now, lets address the elephant in the room - this book is too goddamn mysterious, and thats its downfall. with gtn it works because gideon isnt kept in the dark, she just doesnt give a shit. with htn, we have no idea whats going on and harrow doesnt either. which only works so far in a world well established. this was not. like still what in the everloving fuck is that epilogue. im so lost.
and that is the only point this book fails at.
god harrow is great. i love her. i would kill for her. i enjoyed ianthe, shes the much needed comic relief to harrow's constant somber aura. god is actually so fucking funny - i think this characterisation of god ate so hard. all the other characters undoubtedly also turned it tf out. special shout out to mercymon tho she was a hoot. 
the writing of this book.... delectable. like hello the decision to make this book second-person tense until a certain you know what??? HELLOOOOO???????? tamsyn muir you delectable genius. i could kiss you.
thank god there was More Gay in this. i needed some explicit Gay in my book and thank god i got it here! gtn was more subdued with its sapphic tones but my god this was not and i loved it!!!!
the plot was bonkers but hey when is this series ever not bonkers. i would say i had a good time. i did want to gouge my eyeballs out half of the time tho simply because i had no idea what in the everloving fuck was happening on a surface level, let alone trying to work out the 57 mysteries that are occurring simultaneously. you almost need to be sherlock holmes to understand what is going on in this book without outside references. sigh tamsyn muir i love you but i would also love to read your book without having to ask people who've already read your story "hey am i right in thinking this happened or did i just black out and write my own fanfiction". and the crazy part is most of the time outsiders will go "yeah it sounds crazy cuz it fucking is. but ur on the right track". like im sorry what other series does that /pos.
the ending was confusing, but of course it was. it always is. but man even those last chapters..... Huh. ive read 3 different explanations and i still feel like im missing something. I Feel Left Out of the Loop. Still.
anyways im exhausted because i basically binged the second half of this book. i cant lie and say i DIDNT have a good time. but man i shouldnt have to reread ur book at a later date to fully enjoy it 😭 like i should be able to enjoy it to like. 95% of its full potential first read. and then 100% at a later read. here it feels like my first read i enjoyed 70%, and second read ill grasp like. 90%. ill still miss that 10% because its the locked tomb series ofc ill be lost.
anyways all that is to say i need an alecto release date ASAP im too gay, autistic and impatient to wait. tamsyn muir please im on my hands and knees. i beg.