Alexys works in the Human Resources department for Entity a company that catalogues, studies, and contains cryptids, attempting to honor the legacy of her father who worked in the field as a Warden and died as a result. Now, one of the Wardens she’s meant to oversee goes missing chasing an undiscovered creature called the Hollow Walker, and the only person who can help her search for him is her infuriatingly charming coworker, Nic. Will they be able to overcome their rivalry and maybe even find some common ground before the forest consumes them?
This was largely a miss for me. Based on the description I was hoping for something like a slice-of-life/rom-com set in the SCP foundation (which I need someone to write desperately), and what I got was Supernatural meets Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies, which also sounds fine but is significantly less up my alley. The romance and plot are cute enough but not compelling enough for me personally and it really just became a mystery which I rarely like. It’s a little funny and a little scary, but I would have preferred that it picked a lane and really committed.
I had some trouble with the characters too because on the surface I liked Alexys and Nic fine, but good lord, are these people stupid. Like 80s camp horror movie “We should split up!” “I’ll check the basement!” “I’ll check the attic!” “I’ll check the woods!” “Ooh, let me put on this haunted necklace!” levels of stupid. I don’t know about you, but if I worked for a company that dealt exclusively in cryptids and I was walking around in a forest I’ve been told was full of monsters and a cute little boy offered to take me back to his house, personally I would not follow that little boy! Furthermore, if I did follow that little boy and he turned out to be a cryptid trying to kill me, I would not return the next day and once again let that boy lead me somewhere! A secondary location! Absolutely not! Alexys and Nic make a variety of baffling decisions that made me slowly lose empathy for them, topped off by a certain decision that Alexys makes at the end which I understand was out of desperation but also still think was stupid.
Ultimately, I think this just wasn’t what I was expecting and it turned out to not be my kind of book. I was also under the impression that this was a standalone, so be aware of that. I’m sure there will be people who this is better suited to, but I won’t be continuing the series.
Thank you to Grace Viall and Alcove Press for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!
Happy reading!
Recent posts:
Leave a Reply