Nothing beats a first read, and Ephemeral contains a rollercoaster of emotions that is so underrated unlike any other books I’ve ever read. There was so much work put in with your writing, story development, and plot flow. This novel perfectly creates a sense of emotional attachment to each of these characters made. Not only that, but you go above and beyond a typical writer, researching new topics such as elements of torture, cooking all sorts of recipes, linguistic abilities, multi-character dialogue, large cast of characters, in-depth anatomy, and building fictional worlds like “Lascyrne”. Every anguish, every pain that Rusker had encountered felt so real, and although I have not read an action story in a long time, Ephemeral felt so immersive that I flinched every time Razor inflicted pain to Rusker. Although the story contains very graphic and strong scenes, it is absolutely necessary to feel the trauma (Stolkholm Syndrome, PTSD) that Rusker had experienced. Highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a good read, and is definitely worth the time.