"I have no intention of handing our daughter a world more broken than the one I was given. Whatever it takes, I will give her a life that is better and freer and closer to peace than mine ever was. If I have to alter the course of a nation in pursuit of that end, so be it. Honoria must move, because I will not."

4.25⭐ What a nice surprise.

This whole world feels very solid. It doesn't try to shove too much too fast into your face or loses its pace by painstakingly trying to anchor the universe; it trusts you to understand things without spelling it out for you; and for a plot that happens over 2 or 3 weeks, I actually felt like it was a lot longer, emotionally, instead of second-guessing the speed of the developments.

I think that'd be a great book for people who want to dip their toes into political fantasies without feeling overwhelmed, because while the zoomed-out plot and reason everyone is moving or forced to move the way they are is due to the politics of the kingdom and its relation to its neighbours, the political plot is slow-going, while we focus on the characters, their motivations for partaking into it at all, their efforts to move people where they want them..

The use of the religion (and kinda magic system ?) to explore pacifism is also really interesting. Actually every time I used "politics", I could have added a "/religion" because the two are so intertwined.

But my favourite aspect is still the characters. I found them all to be vastly different and complex people, in a way that makes it understandable and logical even when they make decisions I was frustrated with. The dynamic they all have is fascinating and really well done as well.

Ariana's faith is saintly but her soul is pulled apart between her king husband and her goddess and trying to bridge the two is killing her day by day. Fia's determination to put her daughter first makes her fight the encompassing empathy that is constantly balancing her ruthlessness. Orden is a greedy tyrant but also a besotted husband, determined to make his wife happy even as his very being is at odd with everything she represents. The Priest has made the trade of.. well everything, is exchange for his life, hiding behind a false loyalty but never willing to pull away from it. Even Afon, while not having many scenes, was fascinating with his toxic obsession with Ariana and the Inver.

I will absolutely buy a copy when it's released and will be looking forward to the sequel. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"You have do this," she murmured under her breath, because she needed to hear it from someone, and there was no one else. "You can keep on. Get up now, it's all right."

2.5⭐ This is why you dnf things. Because most of the times, even if you push through because you WANT it to be good, you're just annoyed you've wasted days on a mid read and can feel the slump stomping through the front door.

I love the concept of tarot based magic SO MUCH. Adding a magical school and dark academia vibes? I was foaming at the mouth for this one. There was so much to do with it, so much potential!

Alas, I dragged myself through it. I just wanted it to end. I didn't enjoy Clara's character, who kept describing herself as this smart, conniving, competent woman but there's not much to show for it. Actually, the whole book is being told things and never getting any proof of them. The writing is pretty repetitive, as it seems Elise Kova doesn't trust readers to retain information and keeps hammering things in. Emotional beats do not hit, and plot points are unconvincing. Even the magic system, with its fascinating concept, was poorly explored. No clear rules, mixed with info-dumping.

I did like the middle bit of the romance, mainly because I'm partial to a man who projects a cold and in-control personae but is actually in dire need of a hug, but even that fizzled out when lust came through and Clara would not stop being both hypocritical and nonsensical.

I'm so sorry, this review sounds so harsh, but I was SO hyped up for this, the gap of quality with the result is upsetting.

Dnf at 50%. I love historical fiction/fantasy because, among other things, it knows to take its time to set the world, atmosphere and pace. But there's a skill there too, and unfortunately not everybody is Robin Hobb, making those in between, slower moments feel just as fascinating as the ones with higher stakes.

I find myself a bit bored. And it doesn't help that Langoreth's big love story, which is already haunting the narrative (and apparently will keep on doing so) is not working for me at all, both because of the insta-love (in a historical fiction/fantasy? How dare you) and the really uncomfortable age gap (14 and 20), so I couldn't even latch onto that aspect to push through.

The prose is nice though, and the subplot about the rise of christianism is really interesting.