this is a great fantasy romance and I'd definitely recommend it, especially to the fans of the genre. it didn't quite feel like a debut novel. both Naime and Makram's pov’s were interesting and you'll hardly be annoyed by any of them. the writing is very effective in flesh out their personalities, goals, feelings and beliefs. the book does have its flaws, but the things I didn't like were very specific and part of bigger elements that were actually enjoyable.

one of them was Naime: I don't even remember the last time I loved and respected a female mc this much. she knows exactly her place in this world, she hates it and won’t rest until she changes it – but in a way you believe it, because she’s so assertive with her words. Naime doesn’t whine to the reader and instead shows us her perfect reading of her situation in life and what is expected of her.

however, as I said, there were some little things that rubbed me on the wrong way. Naime’s personality, pov and eloquence in the first 30% of the book are reason enough for me to praise Evans' writing, but in the middle of the story the character lost some of her appeal. I don’t know exactly what happened: her qualities remained, but she started acting too soft with her love interest??? maybe I don’t like seeing any couple falling in love in a span of days, or maybe I have toxic expectations toward romance, who knows.

but there’s another thing regarding the romance and the mcs that really bothered me (spoiler ahead): when they decided to spend the night together and acted as if sex was all about penetration. they didn't touch much bc the only conclusion would be intercourse?? as if one couldn't come without it??? that was so unnecessary imo.

///end of the spoiler///

the secondary characters were there just to support the mc’s, with their background stories never being revealed, just hinted at as if we already knew them. especially Naime's cousin, Ihsan, who barely speaks on page although she's always alluding to his relevance in her life, and that's not something justified by his personality or by the fact that there are two other books. Naime didn't care to make Ihsan really known to the reader, so he felt more like a ghost than a character.

the writing sometimes took abrupt turns regarding the characters' movements: for example, they would finish doing something then resume it without being hinted to the reader in the text, which was weird, because most of the time the writing was clear and satisfactory. also, the action/attack scene during their travel was kind of a mess and I couldn't truly visualize the fight. nothing that affected the quality of the story as a whole tho.

and as usual I loved the romance, but became less and less interested as the ending was approaching, but that's just me being a hater of the established relationship trope. besides, I'm too anxious and impatient lately, so anything more than 300 pages eventually becomes tiresome for me to read (hence I never reading the fantasy books on my kindle) (yes, 13 years old me would be ashamed).