Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of this to review! I love Tahereh Mafi's work, and I was excited to jump into her latest fantasy series. Especially because the cover is absolutely gorgeous! And I really enjoyed the Shatter Me books.

This book starts off strongly, establishing this world and the characters we're going to follow. The overall voice of the book starts out well, pulling you in with the mythology and the characters. From the beginning, you know this is going to be a lush world full of magic and mythology. And maybe even a little bit of romance.

However, I think the story loses something about halfway through the book. I'm not sure if it's the voice or the characters, but something shifts toward the middle of the book, making the ending feel a little too drawn out. Part of it might also be the pacing; it doesn't seem to know exactly where it wants to go.

One thing that might have made this book more effective if it was told in first person. It would have allowed you to get a better grip on the characters, and made the voices more distinct. From Shatter Me, we know that Mafi can write great voice, so I wish that those skills could have carried into this book.

All in all, I wanted a little more from this book, which was an anticipated release for me. But if you like high fantasy, enemies to lovers, you might just like this one! 

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This had such a promising beginning, but the pacing fell off a bit towards the middle. I enjoyed the Persian mythology aspects, though! Full review to come soon.