This is a genre I rarely delve into but was convinced to read it. I found it engaging and the characters real. I appreciated the way the familiar/guide was portrayed in a unique way. I'm not a gore fan but like action and struggle in a story so this book delivered on that. The relationships were real and made the book interesting, believable and relateable. Families, magic or not, have struggles and it's members both fail and succeed. That's what makes the book a good read, it brings you into an amazing, normal family.