We should be more different than two people can be, and yet I feel so complete when I’m with you. Like I belong.

The Good
Let's get this sapphic fantasy show on the road! I really felt for Lucia. (I do have complaints though.) She is anxious, abused, bullied and treated horribly by everyone but her sister who even at times does not actually see/understand her either. The romance between Adelaide and Lucia was well done. I love how intense Adelaide is and how strongly she felt for Lucia. She wanted to love her and understand her in a way no one else did. Their relationship was my favorite part of the book and were when Lucia was the most likable. I found the world-building to be interesting especially the dynamics and history between the clans. The bits of language sprinkled throughout were cool.

The Bad
While I was interested in the main parts of the world-building, I felt there was a lot of seemingly unnecessary details added especially at the beginning that overwhelmed me. The reader is bombarded with locations, lore, and small tidbits that it can't all be stored. When given too many details at once I stopped storing somethings for later because I couldn't identify what's important and what's just fluff. Lucia as a lead character frustrated me. While I understood she was abused, manipulated, and isolated – her lack of a mind of her own frustrated me. I never felt like she truly had thoughts of her own, they were constantly influenced by outside forces. And her own thoughts and decisions were often stupid or naive. She never does anything herself, only when someone tells her to or tells her not to. I craved real character development and felt frustrated as it only came at the very end. I also don't understand Cassius. He tried to kill Lucia during the trials and then both Lucia and Adelaide are fine with him at the party. He then tried to kill Lucia again, Adelaide says they'll deal with him but nothing apparently happens and Lucia is will to hang around him again. This is not how any normal person would react and makes no sense. I think I just didn't like Lucia or rather having to be in her head.

Format:
Ebook — Kindle Unlimited

The Rating
I give this book a 3/5