Content Warnings

I want readers to be able to make informed choices about what they read. These warnings are intentionally broad and avoid identifying characters, outcomes, or where events occur in the story.

Please take care of yourself and your reading experience however you need.

Violence & physical harm: kidnapping and abduction; physical assault; fighting; restraint and binding; being struck unconscious; bruising, cuts, blood, burns, and other injuries; knife and weapon violence; threats of serious injury and death; threats of bloodletting and human sacrifice; magical poisoning/illness and physical deterioration.

Coercion, control & bodily autonomy: attempted human sacrifice; captivity and being used as bait; coercive and controlling behavior; threats to personal autonomy; a family member attempting to control an adult woman's marriage and future; pressure toward an unwanted marriage; characters making decisions for another person under the belief that they are protecting them.

Misogyny & social treatment of women: sexism; misogynistic attitudes and language; women being treated as property or valued according to marriageability and obedience; social judgment surrounding an unmarried woman; reputation policing; gendered insults and expectations.

Family & emotional abuse: emotionally neglectful and controlling family relationships; rejection and conditional belonging; verbal cruelty; manipulation using known emotional vulnerabilities; discussion of being unwanted or burdensome.

Trauma & emotional distress: fear, panic, traumatic memories, grief, loneliness, abandonment, emotional withdrawal, relationship rupture, crying, and discussions of past loss and death.

Death & loss: references to the deaths of family members and other characters; grief surrounding past deaths; animal death.

Animals in danger: an animal caught and seriously injured in a trap; blood and visible injury to animals; an animal being kicked/injured by a human; magical illness affecting animals; animal death. Animals are also frequently involved in dangerous situations.

Environmental harm: deforestation/logging; destruction of natural habitats; environmental poisoning; contaminated land and water; dying trees and plant life; industrial encroachment on a living forest.

Adult sexual content: open-door, explicit, consensual sexual content between adults; nudity; sexual touching; oral sex; penetrative sex; orgasm; sexual discussion and desire. Consent and bodily autonomy are recurring themes within both the romance and the magic system.

Alcohol: references to drinking and intoxicated or alcohol-scented characters.

Language: occasional strong language and gendered insults.

Family-building/reproductive themes: discussion of children, parenthood, and reproductive themes later in the book.