This book was very outside my comfort zone/what I usually read, and I liked that. I've seen it described as literary fantasy, and I would say that's accurate. It's the kind of book that makes you think, and for me I preferred reading it slowly rather than binge reading it all at once. It was also really hard for me to rate, since it's outside my usual genre.

This book is an epic fantasy but has futuristic elements (mostly tech), and in my head I've categorized it as Cyber Fantasy. This makes it stand out against a lot of other fantasy books I've been reading lately, along with the heavier political aspect of the plot. There is also the most criminally-slow slow burn romance.

For me, this wasn't a page turner, which is okay. I like that it was a book I could take my time on and reflect about. I liked the writing style, there's just something magical about it. I would recommend that people give this book a chance, but go into it not expecting a fast-paced and romance heavy romantasy. I'm definitely continuing the series, and Aparna Verma is a must-read author for me now! There's something about her writing that just speaks to me.

I feel like this review makes no sense 😂 tl;dr: read the book, it made me turn my brain on which is good

This book made me mad.

It was hard to decide on a rating for this, because the ending and a lot of the book was disappointing, but I was still engaged while reading. I'd rather read a bad book than a boring book, and this wasn't a boring book. However, there was a lot about it that didn't work for me.

First, her family is AWFUL. How did they have absolutely zero redeeming qualities?? And the plot for her family drama felt very unresolved, in my opinion.

I very much disagree with the boy she ended up with. They had no chemistry. He barely had a personality. I realize this is harsh, but I'm just so frustrated that she didn't end up with the other guy who actually had a personality and chemistry with her!

I also felt the ending didn't really wrap everything up that well? It felt very rushed. I felt like things were thrown in there last minute with no buildup just to solve a plot point without any of the characters having to develop much, or like a scapegoat to avoid conflict between characters.

Would I recommend this book? Probably not. However, if you are okay with a not great ending, it was still an engaging read, so you might want to give it a try.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the digital review copy! All opinions are honest and my own.

I absolutely adored this book! It has a lot of my favourite tropes, so going into it I had high hopes, but this is likely my favourite book of the year!

The book is about a princess, Jory, who is forced into an arranged marriage with a neighboring kingdom's king, Ky, to help her people. Meanwhile, she is in love with her childhood friend, Asher, who works as an assassin. When she meets Ky for the first time, marrying him doesn't seem so bad anymore. But that all changes when Asher receives orders to assassinate both Ky and Jory.

The romance in this book had me kicking my feet and twirling my hair. The tension and yearning! This book has the exact kind of love triangle I want to see, where there is tension between all 3 characters (and not just 2 guys fighting over a girl). Love triangles should always be at least a little gay (or a lot gay please and thank you).

This book was a lot darker than I expected. All 3 characters have their own pasts, and the story explores their different past traumas. Reading about some of the characters' traumas felt so visceral; the author did an excellent job of making me feel for them. Asher in particular really got to me. I don't want to get into spoiler territory, but I recommend checking content warnings ahead of time. The book really delves into some deep topics and the lasting damage they have on our main characters.

I absolutely loved how this book was written with POVs from all the main characters! Sometimes dual and multi POV books can annoy me, but this one really nailed it. I listened to the audiobook while reading a physical copy, and all 3 narrators did an excellent job.

I highly recommend this book, and I can't wait for book 2!