It's very hard to place when is a good time to read this. Chronologically, it takes place before OBSIDIAN even begins. We learn the basics of what it is to be a Luxen and an Arum, how they fight, their general history. It's very interesting to say the least. But the kicker is that we meet Dawson. If you read this book after book one, OBSIDIAN, you still will have no idea who Dawson is. You won't find out until book two, so this is necessary background information for later in the series, but if you read this book before or after book one, you still won't have an idea about who the main character really is. Scratch that, you'll have an idea, but he won't have been introduced in the main series yet. Confusing, I know.
I have read the novella after reading the first three books. I like how it turned out for me in this case. I met Dawson on my own, I made my own conclusions and inferences, and then I got a background story that filled in all potential blanks. While it's not meant to be read in this order, I'd highly suggest others to do what I did.
To give a spoiler to those who have not read the series yet, Dawson is obviously Daemon and Dee's brother. It's unavoidable to review this novella without saying that. Later in the series you will find out some things about him that are rather shocking. This novella chronicles those events and gives some background information to some major bombs later in the series.
As the synopsis suggests, the love interest is a human girl named Bethany Williams. Forbidden love at its finest. While I loved Bethany's character and Dawson's character, they reminded me too much of Daemon and Katy. Dawson and Daemon have very similar thought processes even though neither are willing to admit it, and Katy and Bethany often have similar experiences, though Katy is more hardheaded than Bethany. The comparisons are slightly bothersome because the characters don't stand on their own.
To make it worse, I didn't like the progression of the relationship in this one. Time indicators were not included often and when they were they were thrown in haphazardly in the beginning of a chapter. I have no idea how long this book lasts (perhaps three months at most), but I was getting some serious insta-love vibes from this.
With all of that in mind, this is something that you would expect from Jennifer L. Armentrout. It will not wow you to the same degree as OBSIDIAN, but it'll certainly satisfy any fan of hers. A novella is not meant to be on the same level as a novel, but for a novella, this is pretty solid.
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