3.5/5 stars

I thought this book started out strong but when kind of downhill. I didn’t realize until after I finished the book that I was able to guess a lot of the plot before it happened. That eventually turned into a somewhat mediocre fantasy book and the pacing felt off after the first 150 pages.

The characters were also average. Sirscha was a pretty standard YA fantasy protagonist, though I did like that one of her major flaws was not believing in herself, that she would be no one. We saw some development in her character but not much and her friendship with Saengo didn’t feel like it was all there. Theyen and Prince Meilek’s ‘friendship’ didn’t feel much like friendship. Theyen’s relationship with Sirscha felt forced and rushed and Prince Meilek’s relationship with her felt like it was born of convenience/opportunity.

One of this book’s aspects I did like was that there was no romance - that I could personally detect - though I’m wondering if, should the series contain a romance, it’ll be a love triangle.