Leanna

I read this book because I saw a video saying one of the love interests was like Carden from The Cruel Prince. Maybe that has colored my overall opinion because I fully disagree with that statement.

That aside, this book was a interesting, quick read! The magic system and world building was well done. I've seen other comments about the slow beginning, but I think that is where this book shines. When Mare gets to the castle, I had to keep going back and rereading parts because everything happens SO FAST. Mare even comments on multiple events with “I can't believe that was just this morning.” Because of this, the pacing felt a little off at times and there were definitely more characters and relationships I wanted to see explored before they were cut short.

The love triangle was probably my least favorite part of the book, where I could only really understand why one relationship developed. The other wasn't fleshed out enough and went from nothing to kissing to LOVE with what felt like nothing in between.

Then again, this is a YA book and with so much action and politics there wasn't a ton of time for the relationship to develop on page, but I digress.

I give this book 3/5 stars and recommend it for those who enjoy badass heroin YA books that exploded in the 2010s (Hungar Games, Divergent etc).