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Thank you to Netgalley (I guess) and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

TW: Non-consensual sex that is very much pretended to be consensual and fine. No, really. Mostly in the first book, but I have some issues in the second book with this as well.

This book made me really think about this specific tweet, and I think we should all look at this tweet before continuing to read my review:
https://twitter.com/rhysandism/status/1362635802656739332?s=20

I do not recommend this book for anyone. I absolutely do not recommend it for teenagers. This mentality can become downright dangerous for teenagers to read about, and the relationships are not healthy. Not a single relationship is healthy, and there is not one time that it is addressed. This is not okay.

My full review will be posted on my blog on April 16th, which will include some of the finer details like the unrealistic history and how it's written. Yes, I know this is fantasy. I digress.

Cassandra is 22, but she does not read as 22. She reads to be 16 at most times, and sometimes 14 at others. Even after her escape from the prisons in Londinium, she still throws tantrums like a child. Quite literally stamping her feet when she doesn’t get her way, which, if I ever saw a 22-year-old do that I’m not sure I would know what to do. Devyn is angry and moody, and rarely ever has anything likable about himself. He posed as a 12-year-old when he was 16, so I would imagine that I would be grumpy in those circumstances too. If you’re wondering, yes, it is weird that Cassandra and Devyn’s age difference is 4 years- not when they’re in their 20’s, but since he’s been following her around since she was 12. It’s weird. Marcus was the only likable character of the trio, and O’Connor decided that was not acceptable, either.

My issue with this book, however, is not directly with any of these things. It’s the way O’Connor chose to write about consent and women. In the first book, Cassandra is given bridal tea. This is a drug. She is drugged to feel more sexually aroused to feel more inclined towards her betrothed (Marcus). This is the first time she and Devyn become physically intimate, and they both are aware she is drugged. Despite Devyn playing chivalrous every other moment, he does not when she is drugged. In the first 25% or so of this sequel, Devyn is then drugged with the same tea. The same thing occurs, and no one acts like this is a particularly terrible thing for either of them to have participated in. I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t want my partner to have relations with me when we both know I’m under a drug I did not consent to take.

Cassandra is used as a pawn for marriage, repeatedly. No matter who ends up with her, they are trying to marry her off to someone for power. This book is set in the future of some kind, and honestly, this trope is tired. The handfasting cuffs that Marcus and Cassandra both have cause them to feel aroused when one or the other is experiencing it. Marcus does this to intentionally cause Cassandra to feel out of control around Devyn. While this is not marked as okay, Cassandra forgives Marcus because he didn’t ask to be put in this situation. I mean, neither did Cassandra, but fuck it when it comes to her ability to consent, I guess.

This next bit is going to spoil the ending, but I want to further explore how terrible of a job O’Connor does of addressing consent, sex, and women. Especially because this is supposed to be a YA.

Spoiler

Marcus betrays them all. He sails away and is unaffected by the handfasting cuff. Devyn is murdered. Cassandra is pregnant with Devyn’s child. Knowing that all Cassandra must do is marry someone to get the cuff off, she marries Gideon. She has hated Gideon almost the entire book. However, once the vows are completed, the cuff does not come off. She is going to die in pain- unless she consummates the marriage. Cassandra must sleep with someone she does not like, minutes after her beloved dies and her friend betrays her. Or else she dies. Because this is what we have reduced our female main character to – a pawn. Cassandra is supposed to be from one of the most powerful magical lines in all of history. She has shown her ability to be strong and powerful with her magic. Instead of using that to write Cassandra out of her predicament, she is put in a place where she either dies or she has sex that she does not consent to. That’s it. That’s your big fucking twist at the end of the book.