“Monsters were nothing. The true terrors were people like me – the ones who saw suffering, who heard the screams of a hundred generations echoing for miles around them — and still did nothing.“

4.5 stars! This was fantastic. I’ve been really looking forward to this one ever since I read the synopsis and I’ve heard nothing but great things since. The worldbuilding in this book is so thoroughly fleshed out and unique and all of that freshness just added to the magic of the world.

The premise of this captured me immediately because it’s right up my alley. A girl destined to kill a prince!? I suspected enemies to lovers but this story subverts those expectations and gives you something even deeper. I so loved these characters. Tarisai was an incredible protagonist and I loved watching her make her story and decisions her own. She is so smart and good and desperate for the love that she has been denied her entire life. The relationships she fosters with other characters throughout the book all hit different tones in a wonderful way: The Lady, Dayo, Sanjeet, Melu, and Kirah were the strongest, but I also enjoyed her connections with Woo In and Mbali, too.

This world is so rich and inventive. I was able to take my time with this book and remain entertained overall, though I did feel that a couple sections were a bit slow. Th ending was really fantastic though and definitely has me eagerly anticipating the sequel to see what comes next!