u/Alive_Obligation7475

I read this book a month ago and I've since reread it 3 times. It is simply phenomenal.

The politics and scheming was chef's kiss. The characters were so well written with so much depth. Very strong found family vibes. The romance was the perfect slow-burn.

It felt like stepping into the world of Game of Thrones and then watching the behind the scenes of one of the side characters scheming to get their end results. I loved seeing all the twists and turns and the way Maggie set events into motion.

Maggie is one of the best FMCs I've ever read. She is smart, cunning, determined, and kind-hearted. She knows her strengths and weaknesses and I loved how she asserted her dominance and skills without being overbearing.

The MMC is just...something else. He is one of the closest characters that have scratched my Aragorn wish. Strong, protective, honorable, loyal with good leadership qualities (he's a tad bit more arrogant than Aragorn tho)

I did find the first 100 pages a bit difficult because of all the info-dumping but everything after that just kept getting better and better.

Loved loved loved this book. Highly recommend it!

This is a spoilery review! I also mean no disrespect or shade to anyone that loved this book!

With the disclaimers aside, I initially rated this a 3.5/5 but the more I think about it, the more I find things to critique. I really enjoyed the first 50%. I seriously thought this was going to be a 5 star book for me.

The second half had some problems that I'm finding hard to overlook and it may partly be because I saw so many glowing reviews on Goodreads and this sub that raved about how strong the FMC was and how great the friendship between Kenna & Lara was.

My problems:

1.) Kenna has wits and survival skills, sure, but the only reason she's even alive is because of Caedo, the magical dagger she found in the bog. Right off the bat, If it hadn't been for that dagger, she would have ended up in the same horrid situation as Anya and the other human girls and likely died.

This isn't the only instance where the dagger saved her life. She goes down to speak with the Nasties to investigate about the Blood House trial and nearly gets ambushed. She only survives because of Caedo. Similarly, during the Earth trial, her and Lara only survive because Caedo kills Garrick when both girls are ambushed. She also nearly walked into a fatal ward if it weren't for Caedo alerting her of it.

I know there's always a certain element of luck and help for many protagonists, but this just felt like her entire survival was due to Caedo.

2.) Kenna's sexual assault at the hands of Garrick was handled so poorly imo. Sure, most of the fae don't view humans as people so no one except Kellan did anything.

But Lara was RIGHT there and did nothing and Kenna forgives her instantly. Like wtf??? Instead, Kenna releases all of her rage onto Kellan, the ONLY person who stood up for her and stopped the assault.

There's also 0 mention of this assault afterwards, neither are any of the psychological after effects from being assaulted shown. It's like Kenna was never assaulted. I feel like this scene was only crafted to show that Kellan is actually a good person, which is wrong on so many levels. I really wish SA was handled properly in books and not just as a plot point to elevate an MMC.

3.) Do not get me started on Lara. This is supposed to be a good example of female friendships?? Lara is so passive and weak. She did NOTHING on her own. The only reason she survived any trial is because of Kenna.

Maybe her utter lack of competence could be overlooked if she had some redeeming qualities. But even her supposed "friendship" to Kenna was flawed. Kenna is getting SA'd in front of Lara and Lara does NOTHING. This is NOT a girl who is a "friend". I don't care how naive or weak Lara is supposed to be, a friend, or any good person, does not sit and watch someone else get assaulted. Even Una, a member of a different house, did more to help Kenna in this situation than Lara did.

Not to mention, Lara's younger brother Selwyn is egalitarian and wants better conditions for all in Mistei. When this is brought up and it's mentioned that Selwyn visits the servants quarters often, Lara's words are literally:

"Why am I not surprised? I'm sure he feels quite nicely about visiting the servants. It's easy for him to support equality when he's still benefiting from being a lord. I wonder if he would actually enjoy a world where everyone was equal."

What in the utter tone-deafness? No Lara babes, maybe he actually is a good person that views everyone as equal?? If Lara was meant to be a morally grey or even unlikeable character, it's one thing. But Kenna constantly calls her a friend and almost all reviews Ive read talk about how amazing it was to see Kenna and Lara's friendship.

Lara is spoiled and incompetent and she's done next to nothing to stand up for her "friend" while Kenna does everything to her. Not to mention, a forced servant-mistress friendship isn't something praiseworthy.

4.) Kenna's complete trust in Drustan despite obvious red flags (which Kenna also noticed! There were multiple instances where she feared his mood) but mistrusted Kellan repeatedly over every small thing did not make sense to me. I know Kenna is supposed to be somewhat naive regarding relationships. But she nit-picked everything about Kellan but glazed over everything Drustan said or did simply because she had the hots for him. Do people do this in real life? Yes of course. But it was insufferable to read at times.

I'm a bit disappointed with this book the more I think about it. I don't like leaving negative reviews on Goodreads because I know how much work authors put into their work, so as always, I'm using Reddit to share my thoughts and vent.

If you've read this far, thanks and open to hearing your thoughts! :)

I really enjoyed this book! The world and politics were very interesting, the side characters were enjoyable, I loved all the friendships and I thought Kenna as an FMC was very likeable.

My biggest complaint, though, is about the romance with Drustan and Kenna's relationship with him. She's otherwise very smart and realistically doesn't trust anyone in Mistei, which is why I found her trust in Drustan a bit absurd. She realizes the games the fae play and seems to recognize that others can have hidden agendas but she didn't think to feel the same way about Drustan? She put so much blind faith in him and look how that turned out.

I found the chemistry so weak between them. Yes he was nice to her but she never stopped to think why a noble fae, especially a prince of a house, would take so much interest in her right off the bat. I felt like most of what she felt for him was just physical attraction and nothing else.

I understand that the author was doing the whole bait & switch but I felt like her relationship with him was just too unrealistic and naive. The story would have been just as good if the whole Drustan romance subplot had been cut out.

Loved everything about Kellan though! Anyways, can't wait to read book 2. I think I'm overall just a bit tired of the bait & switch tactic.