Something about this book just didn’t do it for me. I think because a lot of it felt half baked. The reveal of our main villain being her former attendant felt anticlimactic because up until that point we really didn’t get many flashbacks to demonstrate just how important of a role she’d had in Sylvia’s previous life. 

The entire training subplot to get her magic to function correctly took more of the book than the trials, so for me the pacing was way off. 

The blood summit also continuously bothered me because it is unclear to me what all happened, I understand confusion is sewn into this plot since Sylvia’s remembrance is spotty and the Jasad movement against the royals played a part as well. But by the end I was simply just confused about exactly what had transpired and how if it was so bad she and her father like figure survived? 

I think this world clearly has potential and perhaps these issues are addressed in future additions. I do know this is a debut novel, and with that in mind, it is still impressive!