From the description of this book, I thought this would be something I would really like. It sounded like a little bit of court intrigue and politics, but it ended up feeling a little lackluster. It may partly be my fault; I did not understand that this book would be an ensemble cast. For a considerable part of this book we are not following Beyr or Alba. Additionally, the political intrigue felt very surface level and...not that intriguing. But that's fine, I can handle a basic fantasy and still have a good time. In my opinion, what really brought this down for me is the ableism.

A pet peeve of mine is when authors "cure" characters with disabilities, in this case Beyr's speech impediment. You're telling me that all this other fantastical stuff can happen but Beyr can't just live his life happily with a stutter?!

. Thanks, I HATE IT.