*I received an ecopy of this book from the author. This has not influenced my review.*

This was at times beautiful, at times sad, and altogether surprisingly unique! I want you to enjoy the fun and mystery of discovering it for yourself, so I’ll just say, despite having read many paranormal books in my life, the paranormal elements in this one kept me intrigued. Well, I will say, *SPOILER* the main character is an invisible man, or at least he’s becoming one, *END SPOILER* which you find out pretty early, but I’ve hidden it just in case. I know this author didn’t invent the idea, but it’s not something I’d ever read about with a main character before, so that was cool, and it wasn’t even the thing I found most interesting in the book.

The 1932 Berlin setting was also interesting, especially since the main character is a gay man and there were a lot of queer characters.

Near the end, I got a little confused. I didn’t really understand the villain’s plan when it was first revealed or even what the villain was. And then some stuff felt deus ex machina. But everything else was still good.

I wouldn’t call this overall a romance, but there is some romance in the book. And even though Callum and Max barely knew each other, I was oddly touched by what they had. It just felt beautiful.

This functions as a prequel to the author’s Arcadia Trust series, but it could be read as a standalone. I also think you could read this either before or after starting the series. It’s related, but it’s still its own separate story. It’s also part of the Haunted Hearts series, which is a collection of Own Voices paranormal books by queer male authors.

Overall, despite a bit of confusion, this was an interesting queer paranormal story that kept me hooked!

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2024 // Format: Ebook via TTS*