There are very few books that capture my attention as of the first lines as this one did. As soon as I began I knew that I loved Marillier's prose. The gothic feel of the story complemented it very well (or is it the other way around?). 
 It is a character-driven story and none of hte characters ever disappointed, from the protagonist to her bear; the mysterious people that inhabit the castle to the frightened villagers who prefer to keep to the hell they know. 
 It is set in 12th century Ireland and nothing really happened that you wouldn't have expected in such a setting - barring the fantasy side of the story of course. 
 The romance really worked for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
 The only bad point to the story is that every single twist and turn in the plot can be predicted well before it happens, including the final twist. This didn't matter to me, though. I was that invested in the characters and their lives that I could hardly bear to put the book down! It came to an end well before I was ready to part with the characters. 
 One thing that I really would have liked is a guide to the pronunciation of the names. I only have a very rudimentary knowledge of pronunciation in Irish and for a number of the names I wasn't quite sure how to even approach them.