The Lord of the Labyrinth: The Special Edition by Emma CastleMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
🌶️🌶️🌶️ spice
Thank you to the author and BookSirens for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own and given honestly.
Let me start by saying — the beautiful cover and intriguing blurb had me NEEDING to read this book. I’m a massive fan of the movie Labyrinth, and the moment I realized this was a kind of dark retelling? I was literally skipping with happiness. The second I had the book in hand, I dropped everything to dive in — and I’m so glad I did.
The introduction? Chef’s kiss. 👏 I was instantly hooked by the prologue. It came from a direction I wasn’t expecting, which only made it more exciting. It was such a clever and powerful way to open the story — major kudos to the author for that!
The beginning lays a solid foundation for the leads, and I really appreciated the time spent building up the family dynamics. It helped me connect with the female lead right away — not just understand her, but feel emotionally bonded to her. And the male lead? He swung back and forth like a pendulum between light and dark ⚖️ — had me biting my lip 😳 and questioning my own need to swoon 🥵.
The pacing throughout the book felt great — not rushed, not dragging. The detail and world-building brought everything to life in such an immersive way. There’s this dark seduction running through the whole book — at times sweet and dreamlike, and at other times eerie and almost unsettling. That tension of never quite knowing what’s coming next? Loved it.
Now, why 4 stars and not 5? Just a couple small things:
1️⃣ Something big happens near the end, and I struggled with how the female lead reacted. It didn’t feel true to her growth.
2️⃣ The ending felt a little rushed compared to the earlier chapters. It needed maybe one or two more chapters or even just a few slower beats to really land as powerfully as the first half did.
Still, this book was so good — I’m stoked I got to read it! The character interactions, the moral tension, the emotional pull — everything worked. It had me questioning right and wrong, light and dark, and what I would do in their shoes.
Would I recommend it?
Totally. I already know a few friends who would devour this.
Would I read it again?
Absolutely. This is definitely the kind of book that could pull me out of a reading slump.
How would I sum it up?
Dark, seductive, and morally grey in the best way — it’ll have you questioning everything... and maybe falling for the darkness. 🌒🖤
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