The title is “The Women” because all the men in this book belong in the bin.

This book is not going to be for everybody. It’s dark and the characters — yes, including Wei (more on that later) are reprehensible.

But, my god, it’s great.

Quick blurb: Wei, eldest daughter of a starving family, enters a competition to become a concubine for the next emperor. When she is unexpectedly chosen from among the other, wealthy, aristocratic women, to marry Prince Terren, she knows that she has stepped on a nest of vipers. Terren is an openly cruel, violent man, and the palace is full of secrets, betrayal and treason. In a kingdom where magic is controlled by poetry, Wei decides to do something forbidden to women: learn to read. She hopes to write a heart spirit poem that will kill Terren and let his brother ascend the throne.

The INTRIGUE! The TENSION! Much of this felt like a King’s Landing plot in Game of Thrones, right down to the classically scheming eunuchs. I loved our girl Wei so much, even as we watched her be corrupted by the power so close within her reach. There were twists and turns here that I just never saw coming.

I do wish the magic system was a little better defined but in a book that packs so much into just 360 pages, I’ll let it slide.

A STANDALONE!

This is not a Romantasy for anybody looking. I love Romantasy. This just isn’t one.

NOT FOR EVERYONE. Weird, uncomfortable, disturbing. Very darkly funny—sometimes. The online shopping hauls were an amazing addition. I wish there was more of her relationships with people who weren’t Korgy, but given it’s only 280 pages there wasn’t really room.