Curse-bringer. Dream-thief. Demon-lover.
That’s how shamans are known in Affiza, and Bassim is beginning to fear it might apply to him. Why else are the people close to him collapsing into a cursed sleep? Why else is he the only one who can see the shadow-selves within them? He needs someone who can understand him… and a shaman’s wishes have power. Borne by blood and longing, the elemental tide in his veins, his wishes bring him Alec, a boy from another world.
Reserved, obedient, straight-A student. Alec has always followed the rules. But, somersaulted into another world, he feels fully alive for the first time. With Bassim, there’s freedom, adventure… maybe even love.
But how can it be love when it’s built on a lie? When Alec wakes up in London every morning, he goes back to living as a girl.
If Alec can’t bring the fractured halves of himself together, not only his heart will break—so will Bassim’s entire world.
Fans of Maggie Stiefvater and Aiden Thomas will love this bittersweet romance about finding your centre, finding home, and finding joy in who you are.
I was rooting for them very hard in any case, and while I guessed some parts about the curse and where it came from, I didn’t know how Adler would resolve their relationship with each other. But they found an excellent way that both allowed their relationship to become a little messy and resolved nicely and sweetly (just to set expectations, though: no HEA, this is not a romance novel).
I was also really impressed with how distinct Adler keeps the two point of views the story is told from. It certainly helps that Bassim’s perspective is in third person and Alec’s in first, but they are very different personalities and it shows beyond this switch.
And the magic system is also really interesting and quite original, I thought. I loved exploring how things work in Bassim’s work – and how they also spill over into London, or rather, how London and Affiza are connected."