Thank you to Netgalley and the author for a copy of this book.

Kamali's home of Ausora is almost entirely made up from magical illusions. Kamali and her her family have keeping the illusions going for a century. She's the last illusionist left and her power are running out, draining her life force; she has only a couple of years left, and King Aleksander is looking for her.

Aleksander marries Princess Saira as he needs to marry a magician to keep his family strong. Saira however is no magician, or even a princess, she's plotting to kill him.

This dual POV book presents us with an unusual and intriguing magic system. This novel has a lot in it, political intrigue, mystery, evil royal family oppressing the citizens, a sapphic romance, family, both biological and found, well-fleshed out characters.

I throughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to see what else Sadar writes. I did find the story dragged unnecessarily  at times, but once I got to the 2nd half of the book I couldn't put it down.