I am really trying to process whatever it was I just read in the end of this book.
For 80% of this book, this was trending toward a 4.5 or 5 star rating, I was absolutely eating this story up. I genuinely was so very intrigued and invested in what was going on.
Now that I have finished... I don't know what to think. I think I am landing on a 4 just because I had such a good time with the majority of the book and I think a lot of my issues have to do with her setting things up for the sequel...

Non-Spoiler thoughts:
- The setting, despite my confusion on where and when and how this society works, I was having a great time living in it. The school setting was great as we see Valerie going through the initiation process and discovering her abilities (or inabilities) along the way. The Marionnettes themselves are super fascinating.
- The partnership between Reginald (Reid?) and Valerie was interesting and I enjoyed reading about their connection as they began to understand it more. I almost wanted more about their bond sometimes. I could feel a chemistry building but it was also very wishy-washy at times so I am interested to see where that bond goes.
- Why tf does she randomly start calling him Reid in the last 10% of the book?? When they first met he said "call me Reid" and she literally NEVER called him that. It was always Reginald for the entire book. Until the end? This threw me off as the change was never addressed.
- The heirarchy/relationship between humans/witches/vampires was really interesting. I'm not sure I totally understand it too much as to why things are the way they are, but I also don't really need to know all of that to enjoy this story.
- It felt like too much happening all at once, which was exciting for the majority of the book as it kept a fast pace, but in the end, there was too much happening with absolutely nothing being resolved. There are so many questions that go unanswered in this book. I know it is book 1 in a series, but to have absolutely no resolution to any of the plots/questions is kind of alarming.
- I love all the names in this book, a lot of them are unique but not so unique that it's annoying... but Reginald?? I'm sorry this is supposed to be a young man but I am picturing an 80 year old with a monocle 

Spoiler thoughts: I'm feeling sassy today so some of these will be unhinged sorry.

- The Wendigo thing comes out of nowhere - like it was just a research project - and then they pop out to attack her in her mind but also physically? I love the lore of wendigos so this was kind of awesome, but also a little random given all the other stuff happening to Valerie. I assume Daniel will have some connection to the wendigos down the road... Oh and then this plot immediately is overshadowed by the abduction by the Russian vampires...
- The Russian vampire revenge streak felt like it should have waited for book 2. I love a good abduction/torture scene - this was an intense one fore sure and the SNAKE? yikes - but it just felt like a little too much thrown into the ending without really solving any existing issues. This felt like a completely isolated plot line from anything else happening to Valerie so I would have preferred if this waited til the next book.
- So Connor is a vampire now? I feel like this twist came completely out of nowhere and especially because we barely saw much of Connor throughout the book so I honestly don't know or care much about him... But I am really interested to see where this goes in the next one. Like yes I am excited to know more but also I don't particularly care that it's Connor. Also I was SHOOK when Val caught him with the vamp earlier in the book and I get why it happened but also I don't get why because he never actually told her much. They really need better communication after SIX YEARS together??
- And we don't really have any answers on the poisoning issue either? Was it her mom? Was it the Russians?
- Who tf is James Westcott?