This was powerful. 
 I have never read a book quite like this. It has a timelessness to it that is somewhat indescribable. 
 With this book, Julie Berry has created an extremely realistic reimagination of the 1200s and the religious terror that plagued the world. Her titular character, Dolssa, is deemed a heretic for her miraculous abilities and belief that she is in direct contact with Jesus. She is sentenced to death but escapes, wandering the countryside until a girl named Botille stumbles upon her and takes her in with the help of her two sisters. Dolssa originally stays hidden, since various religious men are searching for her, but in a time of need, she heals a sick child in the town. Soon, the word of her gifts travel to other families and eventually across the country, bringing the religious men straight towards her. The story is heavily researched and based loosely on stories of actual women who preached during this time period. I can't fathom all the work that needed to be done in order to make this book seem as authentic as it was. There are even research materials and indexes in the back of the book to back up this claim. 
 At times, this book is absolutely terrifying, and not in a thriller-horror-movie kind of way. The events that take place here are horrifying because these things actually happened. People were deemed heretics and burned at the stake, they were silenced in the most gruesome ways possible, and their villages were burned because they sympathized with someone the church deemed heretical. And in some parts of the world, people still face these horrific events even nowadays. What immediately came to mind as I read Dolssa's tale was the events of the Salem Witch Trials. They have a lot of similarities. 
 I usually don't read historical fiction, nor is it my favorite genre by any means. So, enjoyment-wise, I didn't feel taken on a pleasurable adventure reading this book. Rather, I felt compelled to continue because I was genuinely curious about what would happen to the characters, which I think says a lot. The context of this book is one that I would have quickly dnf'd if not for this fact. 
 On a side note, I was, for some reason, under the impression that there were LGBT characters in this book before reading it. For anyone also under the same assumption, there are not. I was waiting for them, wondering how they would fit into the story, but they don't exist. Maybe the blurb confused me? I also saw this book on a LGBT list here on Goodreads, so I'm honestly pretty confused about why it was on there. Maybe the context of Dolssa and Batille's relationship? Which seems like a strange interpretation of their spiritual love for each other. Maybe I'm just viewing this wrong though, not sure. 
 Bottom line though, this is a must read for fans of historical fiction. It is powerful, brilliantly written, and sometimes gut-wrenching, but will make you think about it long after you've finished.