I received an advanced reader copy for review.

Would have greatly benefited from a map. I assume the final published copy will have one because there is a credit in the front matter for an artist, however it wasn’t included in the review copy I received. I had a lot of trouble differentiating between countries, cities, continents, types of magical people and creatures toward the beginning of the book. By the time I reached around 30% through, I was making sense of it and the story picked up.

I will say I found the rivals to lovers romance arc a little disappointing. It was completely transparent to the reader that the male love interest was simping for the female main character from way before the start of the book, and not just because of the alternating narration. I find it hard to believe she was so obtuse as to never ever notice he called her love all the time or was looking out for her. She’s not portrayed as being oblivious to social cues, she picks up on the rival prince flirting with her all the time, and even mentions that it’s a big part of her work as a spy. The blind spot just doesn’t make sense to me, otherwise I did like the story and side characters, and will definitely read book two when it comes out too!