**SPOILERS PERTAINING TO ROMANCE IN THE BOOK AHEAD**



I have to say this installment had me on my toes. Lia is a master at surviving. She really did feel terrible throughout the book for having to play Kaden all the way to the end, but she even had me as a reader questioning her true feelings at times. It's obvious as the story progresses that she's sure about her feelings and Rafe is the one she is in love with. She isn't purposely manipulative or a bad person. Unfortunately, circumstances often make people make morally questionable decisions as is clear even at the end of the book. I like how characters like Kaden, the Komisar and Calentha are given dimension and nuance. They aren't all bad nor all good and each have their own share of insecurities as well as moral boundaries. The love triangle was handled very well, mostly because it mostly one sided and Lia was sure about what she felt the whole time. What usually annoys me about love triangles is when someone in the triangle can't choose who they favor for reasons that are within their control. The only way that works is if the love triangle ends in a polyamorous relationship, at least for me.

Something else the author did very well is showing the cultural differences between kingdoms in a very realistic light. Lia makes a great comparison of her experience at home and in Venda. She realizes that the Venda and Morrighan aren't as different as they'd like to believe and both imprison and restrain her in similar ways. It's an experience that puts her mixed feelings about the complex politics around her into perspective. While in Venda, the people that she initially thinks of as her enemies, start becoming human beings and individuals as she gets to know them. It's easier to be detached from a situation when you don't put faces to a nation of group of people. It was nice to be able to see that through Lia's perspective because it helps to make her and her situation very relatable.

The Komisar was also an amazing antagonist. It was very hard to read his true intentions until the end. He definitely uses his power as a shield to cover up his insecurity. He enjoys being in power because he feels protected by it. He also had aspects of him that were kind, as shown by the fact that he saved Calentha from further abuse from her father. This made it harder to simply dismiss him as an evil person. I like villains that are three dimensional like he was. It made it more surprising and interesting to see that he was someone that was still cruel enough to kill a child in order to show his off his power. I'm hoping that Rafe is able to find help because Lia's situation wasn't great by the end of this installment. Great writing from Peterson. I hope to check out other books by her after I'm done with this series.