I received this book as an ARC in return for an honest review.
**Contains minor spoilers**
For this being the author's debut novel, I thought it was pretty good. There was a lot to be desired in the way of editing, with regards to punctuation and typos. I understand that editing can get expensive, so I tried not to factor that into my rating, though I likely would have DNF'd this book because of it, had the plot not interested me so much.
The author put so much thought and detail into all of the creepy crawlies and torture that went into each circle of Hell, which was phenomenal. I didn't have a hard time at all imagining anything because it was so descriptive. I also really loved that there was a picture guide to the circles of hell, with little hints as to what the reader might find in each circle. This also made a really clear cut from one place to the next.
There are notes at the end of her book as to why she made the decisions she did, so I totally respect them, but they just weren't my cup of tea. I wasn't a fan that this book went back and forth from the more orthodox type religions of Christianity, but then had minor elements of Greek mythology and even Japanese culture. I also wasn't a fan that it felt like the author was just throwing in everything she could think of (werewolves, witches, dragons, fallen angels, supernatural creatures, etc.). It all just felt like too much.
The beginning just went way too fast and I felt like I had whiplash and didn't even know anything about this book before things were happening. The explanations for certain things seemed unrealistic and I feel like the only reason Griffin existed in this book was for a dues ex machina to resolve getting out of some battle that could have easily just been done a more reasonable way.
Rayleen kind of annoyed me a little bit in the way that her sense of right and wrong led her headlong into dangerous situations with no regard for herself or those around her. But I LOVEDDDD Mags. And Dante was TO DIE FOR. Watching the relationship between Rayleen and Dante, as well as the friendship between Rayleen and Mags, grow was definitely spectacular. The spicy scenes in this book were perfection.
The book ends on a SERIOUS cliffhanger. I'm interested to see more from this author in her next book!