ALA Booklist

Zoe, 17, and her family live in the snowbound Montana wilderness in fear of the Lowlands, a place from which enslaved bounty hunters enter our world to collect the souls of wrongdoers. Still reeling from their father's disappearance, Zoe and her brother are rescued in a blizzard by a mysterious young bounty hunter Zoe calls X. Raised in the Lowlands, X has never had a name, much less anything resembling a normal life, but when he and Zoe meet, they fall hard in love for each other. Readers are likely to fall hard for Zoe's family, whose fierce independence, stubborn refusal to accept injustice, and unconditional love for one another pulls them through multiple tragedies. Giles beautifully captures the breathless, visceral, and instant attraction between Zoe and X, as well as Zoe's disappointment and anger when she learns what has actually become of her father. This action-packed romance with surprisingly dimensional characters offers no easy answers to myriad difficult questions, making it a rich and satisfying read on multiple levels.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This book's big-time push includes blurbs by the likes of Peter Jackson, two author tours, and preorder promo gifts.

Horn Book

Zoe and her little brother are attacked by a vicious man in the woods near their home, and Zoe finds herself immediately attracted to their mysterious rescuer. Known only as "X," he reveals that he is a bounty hunter of souls, sent from a region of Hell. Despite its unusual premise and evocative rural Montana setting, this is ultimately a standard-issue paranormal romance.

Kirkus Reviews

Opposite worlds collide in this supernatural tale of forbidden love and good-versus-evil when 17-year-old Zoe, who is still coping with the death of her father, crosses paths with X, a pale boy of the supernatural variety. Zoe and X's love affair is doomed from the start, because X is a prisoner from the Lowlands-a supernatural, hellish landscape-where he acts as a bounty hunter, collecting the souls of bad people on behalf of a mysterious higher power. With her witty dialogue and banter, Zoe is positioned as a funny and likable character, but X doesn't have enough substance to set him apart from other brooding young men within the genre. In an apparent effort to charm teen readers, the book is brimming with pop-culture and social media references, and the frequent use of slang phrases ("dawg"; "true dat") dates the novel and reads like a mockery of the teen experience. Zoe is described as having pale skin. Regent, a black Lowlands lord with "royal, African bearing" and "shining, ebony skin," is the novel's main character of color and fulfills the unfortunate "magical negro" trope. Meanwhile, Zoe's best friend, Val-a lesbian-reads as a flat character. In the end, this effort doesn't do anything new for the paranormal-romance genre and falls short of the gripping and heart-stopping supernatural tale it promises. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

First-time novelist Giles combines an intense thriller plot with one of the oddest afterlifes in recent fantasy. Seventeen-year-old Zoe, her younger brother Jonah, and their eccentric but loving mother are still hurting a year after Zoe-s father died in a caving accident. Life goes on, but nothing fits right. Then two dangerous people appear at their secluded mountain home: Stan, a vicious thief and murderer, and a hunky bounty hunter Zoe nicknames X, who has been assigned to confront Stan with his crimes and drag him off to the Lowlands for eternal punishment. After Zoe prevents X from completing his mission, they become enamored of each other, but the repercussions of their actions aren-t far off. Zoe-s mutually devoted relationships with her brother, mother, sardonic lesbian friend, Val, are standouts, as is the endearingly oddball dialogue. X-who has no name, never knew his parents, and grew up in the equivalent of Hell-is more of a cipher, though he-ll grow on readers just as he grows on Zoe. It-s an intriguing story that leaves the door open for future books. Ages 14-up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Jan.)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Zoe Bissell has had a rough year. She hasn't been able to find closure following her father's unexpected death in a caving accident and the disappearance of two beloved neighbors. Then, during a harsh winter storm, she and her eight-year-old brother, Jonah, are attacked. X, a handsome and mysterious stranger, comes to their rescue. Unbeknownst to Zoe, X is actually a bounty hunter from a dark, unique area of Hell known as the Lowlands, and he was sent after Zoe's attacker's soul. Despite X's hellacious origins, he and Zoe form an intense connection, and X learns empathy for humans. The romance will not be without consequences, though, as some beings from the Lowlands are not happy about X's and Zoe's intense feelings for each other, and Zoe's friend Dallas could end up with a broken heart. Giles's fantastical novel reads like a blend of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and modern-day horror, such as Stranger Things . Zoe is an empowered, complicated female protagonist with a huge heart, and X is a heartthrob with a twisted past and a thoughtful persona. VERDICT Highly recommended for YA collections. Margaret A. Robbins, University of Georgia, Athens

Voice of Youth Advocates

Seventeen-year-old Zoe lives on a mountain in Montana with her mom and little brother, Jonah; the closest neighbor's house is a mile away through dense forest. Having recently lost her father in a caving accident and her elderly neighbors in a bizarre and violent disappearance, Zoe's emotions are on overload. With a blizzard approaching, her mother away in town, and Jonah missing outside, she ventures into subzero temperatures to find him.Told in alternating narratives by Zoe and the supernaturally gifted X, a bounty hunter of souls from the Lowlands, Giles's gripping tale pulls readers through a fast-paced thriller in which Zoe's world converges with X's, at the edge of everything. With strong characters and suspenseful scenes strung one after another, readers enter an amazing work of speculative fiction that pits good against evil, man against man, and man against nature. Frigid temperatures, extreme weather, frozen lakes, and caving combine to present almost-unbeatable odds for brave Zoe. In this wholly engrossing page-turner, Giles convinces readers to view X as a "good guy" who hails from an isolated section of hell, only entering the surface world to collect souls assigned to him. It is suitable for any readers who are aficionados of contemporary fiction, mystery, adventure, suspense, romance, or tales wherein determining right from wrong is difficult. Shelve multiple copies and gift this book; readers will thank you.Cynthia Winfield.