I dived into this story because of the rivals-to-lovers subplot. It would’ve been even better if it were sapphic. From her unyielding loyalty to Ren, to her growing trust in Tourmaline, and even her complex dynamics and banter with Cloud and Lotus, there’s so much potential to bloom. In contrast, her relationship with Crow feels lacking in depth, almost forced. On the other hand, it’s understandable, since this book’s main focus is the political intrigues of the war from Zephyr’s POV.

One of my favorite parts was seeing how differently some characters act with Zephyr compared to how they act with others like Cloud and Lotus. It was engaging to read and really highlighted the complexity of each relationship.

It’s hard to say if I loved this book or not. I pretty much forgot the first half, maybe because I kept putting it down, but I found myself savoring the second half more than expected. In spite of that, the story held up well overall. I stayed for the political antics, curious to see how everything would unfold. The plot twists were satisfying; the questions I had in the first half clicked into place once the reasons were revealed. That said, I just couldn’t imagine Zephyr’s relationship with Crow beyond her attraction to his face. Still, the ending hooked me enough to want to read the next book, to see how the war plays out, and maybe to finally witness the buildup between the two strategists.

I’d be so glad if this book has trigger warnings in the blurb.

Nonetheless, this book is good! The characters are so funny, especially Arthur and his sarcastic remarks. Gwen is right, he grows on me like a mould. This is for people who wants an arranged marriage between gay characters and end up as best friends so this is not the usual but rather refreshing trope, and has representation of the themes about sexual orientation, duty, loyalty, friendship, and self worth.

The dialogue is suitable for its historical settings, and YA feeling. I started this book since the genre is retelling and LGBTQIA+ and I didn’t regret it. I’m glad I finished this one and really love the dynamics of the characters. They feel humane, and diverse. I laughed, sympathized, got mad, but felt proud for them.

For the retelling part, I think this is not the usual retelling but rather, the tale kinda influenced the narrative, in my opinion. Since the settings of the story happened hundreds years after King Arthur Pendragon’s time where Catholicism was adapted in England, but there’s still people who are cultists. I actually don’t know the story behind the original tale but nonetheless, I still enjoyed it.

The main characters, Gwen and Arthur, started quite bad but I really love their development in platonic sense, especially their talks and banters over tea time in her room. And Bridget, I really love her character! And oh, the relationship between Sidney and Arthur is so great to see, they’re unbreakable. I love the characters’ development. There are some parts that feel rushed but it’s stillwell-paced overall. One of my favorite quotes:

“You could fall in love with a man, and know that you once liked Bridget, and neither of those things would change the other. They would both be true. But right now you do like Bridget. So I don’t think you should settle for a life that denies that particular truth.”

I read a review that the tone of this book got changed drastically, however, I think otherwise. There are some signs of the conflict from the start to middle, but I understand why it was suddenly changed in other people’s pov since this started lighthearted and funny, and got dark in middle-end. But it’s not super descriptive which is quite helpful for people who don’t like gore. I would be glad to have trigger warnings though.

If only the characters are not too flawed, and had the time to explore the politics behind the conflict, this would be a 5-star review but since this is YA, I can quite understand why. This is still a comfort read and would recommend it to others!