I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Cicely is the black sheep daughter of the powerful Winter family, who made a cruel bargain in exchange for riches and ruthless magic. Soren is the boy her family banished to the underworld. Their fates intertwine when Cicely's loathsome Uncle Dorian winds up dead at a masquerade ball.

Once overlooked for her lowly gift of discovering secrets, Cicely is now her family's only chance at survival, tasked with finding the killer before he takes out every last Winter. With time running out, Cicely narrows her sights on Soren, who she suspects is back for vengeance.

Yet the more Cicely investigates Soren--and gets to know him--the more she begins to question how much family loyalty is worth. After all, when it comes to being a Winter, one can have love or power, but rarely both...

Short and Sweet Review

Our Wicked Gifts was such a fun surprise. The combination of a wealthy family with supernatural powers, a murder mystery, dark magic, and a morally gray cast immediately pulled me in. It gave me Knives Out meets The Inheritance Games with a gothic fantasy twist, and I loved unraveling the secrets surrounding the Winter family. The mystery kept me guessing the entire time, and every time I thought I had things figured out, another reveal proved me wrong.

One of the strongest parts of the book was definitely the Winter family. They are wealthy, manipulative, dysfunctional, and honestly terrible people, which made them incredibly entertaining to read about. Every interaction felt like someone was hiding something or waiting to betray another family member. I also loved the concept of the Ruin and the family’s unique magical gifts. The magic system felt fresh, especially Cicely’s ability to uncover secrets, and the eerie atmosphere surrounding the Ruin added a creepy edge that made the story stand out from other YA fantasies. Cicely was also a refreshing main character because she isn’t your typical hero. She starts off wanting acceptance from her family, but as the story unfolds, she becomes increasingly morally gray herself. I appreciated that the book didn’t force her into the role of the perfect, selfless protagonist. Instead, it explored how growing up in such a toxic environment shaped her choices and blurred the line between right and wrong. Her internal conflict between family loyalty, ambition, and love made her character much more interesting than if she had simply rejected everything the Winters stood for. While I really enjoyed the story, there were a few things that kept it from being a full five stars. The beginning is a little heavy on exposition, and it takes some time to sort through the large cast of family members and understand everyone’s relationships. There were also a few magical scenes that I found difficult to visualize, and at times the dialogue and repeated explanations slowed the pacing. The romance between Cicely and Soren also developed a little too quickly for me. I liked what it represented thematically, but I never completely believed how deeply they cared for each other given how little time they actually spent together on the page.

Overall, Our Wicked Gifts was a dark, entertaining fantasy filled with murder, family secrets, magic, and plenty of unexpected twists. The dysfunctional family dynamics were easily my favorite part, and I loved that almost every character was morally questionable in some way. Even with a few pacing issues and a romance that didn’t fully work for me, this was an addictive read that kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy gothic fantasy, magical murder mysteries, and stories where no one can really be trusted, I’d definitely recommend picking this one up.