This is one of those books where the author starts you off in the middle of the story, leaving you to figure out the “rules” of their fantasy world mostly on your own. Through flashbacks, plot twists, and an intricately woven cast of characters, a haunting story of revenge emerges.

Carolyn, our dark heroine, and her eleven siblings don’t remember much of their lives before Father and Adoption Day. What comes after is a twisted mess of ruthless training and blind devotion. Taken from their previous lives and hidden away in Father’s library, each sibling is given a different catalog to study: Medicine, Science, the Future, Death, War… Carolyn’s catalog is Language – all the languages that have ever or will ever exist in the universe, from English to the poetry of storms. When Father goes missing, all that stands between the world and Carolyn’s unstable brother David, master of War, is Carolyn’s clever mind. Will she be cunning and ruthless enough to stop him? And if she does what it takes to win, how much of her humanity will be left?

I had been wanting to read this book since it came out almost a year ago. I wish it hadn’t taken me this long to pick it up. What a weird and wacky roller-coaster ride through the genres of fantasy, mystery, and suspense. This is not a story for the faint of heart. Fair warning that it gets pretty graphic at points, but the payout is worth it for such a unique story.