When raiders take her village, an overlooked witch is forced to travel with the cold collector who once passed her over.
- Score
- 76.0
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Steamy
- POV
- first
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
If you liked this, read
What readers think
Readers consistently praise Raina as a compelling, fierce protagonist — her use of sign language as a mute witch is widely lauded as thoughtful and rare representation in the genre. The enemies-to-lovers arc is considered well-executed once it gets going, and Alexus is a fan-favourite love interest. The most common criticism is that the first half drags significantly, with the romance feeling underdeveloped relative to the short in-world timeline. Some readers also find the worldbuilding underfleshed, wanting more depth to the magic system. The second half is broadly agreed to be stronger and more satisfying.
Read it if
- · Readers who want a fierce, disabled protagonist done with care and respect
- · Fans of slow-smouldering enemies-to-lovers with a genuinely threatening male lead
- · Fantasy romance readers who enjoy ancient-god mythology and icy, atmospheric settings
Skip it if
- · Pacing-sensitive readers — the first 50% is widely considered slow
- · Readers wanting deep, fully realised worldbuilding rather than atmosphere-first fantasy
- · Those seeking an insta-love payoff — the tension is drawn out across the book
If you liked this
- · For fans of Sarah J. Maas who want a grittier, darker heroine
- · Like A Court of Thorns and Roses but with Norse-tinged mythology and a mute protagonist
- · For fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout's captive-captor romances with immortal love interests
- · Naomi Novik readers who enjoy lush, cold-climate fantasy with moral ambiguity
Which dark romantasy heroine are you? Five choices in a forest that wants you dead.
Take the quiz →