UGH. this book. it had so much potential. the beginning felt like a pretty solid four stars read, but dumb choices were made just for the sake of the plot that the author for some reason wanted to push; and the romance, which had seemed to be a promising source of FEELINGS, stopped delivering halfway through it (the couple reminded me of the one from Graceling, a book that had so little steam it made me sad). for a book five hundred pages long that is the first in a series, the tension, coherence and emotional attachment should have been there.

the cultural aspects surrounding the characters were well handled tho, including the fusion of religion and magic. it's something im not used to see in ya fantasy, and i think a lot of writers could learn from it (bc just dropping a human girl between fairies you swear to god are extremely evil is not world building).