This book is such a huge waste of time. Basically nothing happens for the first three hundred pages and after that, there's a messy relationship development between the love interests that feel copy/pasted from Twilight, including the MC's stubbornness to not eat (what is with romance books featuring female characters who refuse to eat until forced by men? That's a topic for another day). It also suffers from telling and not showing, which is a common trend of romantasy books (that I've read thus far).

The plot follows a teenager being groomed by a very old man. I feel like there could have been interesting topics and themes explored under this premise but it's another attempt at Twilight if it had more political intrigue (which again, could be very interesting if done well!). Unfortunately the writing is awful and the reader's time is disrespected for hundreds of pages, accumulating in unmet potential. When the author does manage to write something memorable or noteworthy, they milk it for what it's worth, re-quoting and using the same phrase repeatedly to an annoying degree.

The character traits, motivations, and in the MC's case, her inner monologue, also flip-flop all over the place. There's a lack of consistency that makes them hard to understand at best and frustrating/forgettable/annoying at worst.

The smut (of which there is very little) is also very vanilla, very cis, and very vague (the author refuses to acknowledge any body parts by name or description).

Overall I would not recommend this book and I've mostly heard on PB that even fans of the series claim the sequels get worse. I cannot imagine how that's even possible with how bad this first entry was. I've written a ton of forum posts if you want to read more of my thoughts but I'll end this review with a general list of them.

General Pain Points

1. When there is a soldier horned up and laying on top of the MC in a brothel bed, and she wants him so damn bad that she's going to throw everything away, why in the world is she parroting "but why do you want to sleep with me?" for FOUR PAGES. She knows about sex. She knows this guy is a soldier. She knows he likes to get some. She knows the kinky situation she's created by remaining anonymous and masked. She knows he can tell she wants him BAD. And she doesn't understand why he wants to sleep with her??
2. Traditional gender roles and monogamy.
3. The white MC has a notably non-white servant.
4. There's a secret organization that puts bright cloth on their front doors to signal each other and somehow this is inconspicuous in the book.
5. Open-concept homes.
6. Weirdly modern descriptions, interactions, and dialogue that feel out of place (ex: the MC describing getting hyper from coffee).
7. Tonal whiplash due to character inconsistencies.
8. The MC constantly describing her stomach dipping when she's horny.
9. When the MC sits on the love interest's lap, her head doesn't reach his chin, and the only way for that to make sense is if she's banging a giraffe.
10. The environmental descriptions are extremely vague or nonexistent.
11. The MC gets shocked by a man who isn't dressed as a guard equipped with a sword and a woman wearing boots. Her shock is never explained or elaborated.
12. The author near the end of the book randomly drops a significant plot development within the MC's internal monologue during a sex scene and had the audacity to write “But now was not the time for that.”
13. The author follows the trope of the MC's hoohaw tasting like a particular food (in this case, honeydew).
14. The last 150 pages of this book, the author just completely fumbles with horrible, horrible writing, even in comparison to the first several hundred pages.

Painfully Cyclical Quotes

1. ”People have been talking about you.” ”If people are talking, they haven’t said anything.”
2. A weird mixture of relief and disappointment mingled with a thrill of anticipation. “You know what?” ”What?” ”I don’t know if I’m relieved or disappointed that he didn’t recognize me. Or if I’m excited that he might have.”
3. "I'm sure playing cards is all he does. If that is all he does, then that would be a...disappointment."
4. ”…you’re important to me, Poppy. Not because you’re the Maiden, but because you’re…you. I worry about you. Partly because it’s my job, but mostly because it’s you.”
5. Hawke: "Penellaphe and I do need to speak." Tawny: "Fine. Princess." Poppy: "Oh, my gods." Hawke: "I like her." Two chapters later: Hawke: "I need to speak to Penellaphe in private for a moment." Tawny: "If you need me, knock. Princess." Poppy: groans Hawke: "I really do like her."