2/5 stars
This was such a disappointing read. I have loved all of Anna-Marie McLemore's books so far. I have adored their lush prose, their complex and diverse characters, their magical storylines, and their beautiful romances. But this just wasn't it.
The writing in Dark and Deepest Red, which was purply and full of metaphors and similes, felt forced and unnatural instead of genuine and true to the magic of the story. Sometimes the writing style would go in and out, with several paragraphs passing of fairly normal prose and then an odd simile is thrown in to turn the writing back to purple prose. It felt disconnected because of the inconsistent writing, and these frequent shifts took me out of the story often.
The book alternates chapters between the past in 1518 Strasbourg and the present in Briar Meadow. The past is told from Lala's point of view and the present switches between Emil and Rosella. There was not enough time at all spent with either Emil or Rosella to actually get to know them and care at all about what happens to them. Both Emil and Rosella's personalities and lives felt very thin and shallow, as did their plot line in the present day. Honestly if I think about it, there was very little that even happened in their plotline.
Lala's story on the other hand in 1518 was very good. She was a well-developed character who I really liked, and I was invested in her story. Really that should have been the whole book, because those chapters were good.
but 1/2 of a good story does not make a great book. Dark and Deepest Red was just boring. Emil and Rosella's whole story was boring, and Lala's was slow at the beginning. (It took me 12 DAYS to finish this, an absurdly long amount of time to read a 300 page book)
The premise was interesting and half of the story was good and the writing was enjoyable some of the time, and the rep for Romani, trans, and Latinx people was great. There was a good book in here somewhere. But this just wasn't it. Go read Anna-Marie McLemore's other books instead.