*(overall rating is 4.0)

to be honest, when i read the prologue for this book and the last sentence was, "the boy i love", i found myself internally groaning. i had just finished up a romance and was in the mood for some fantasy (which is a rare occurrence), so imagine my surprise when i read that (also, not to mention that fantasy usually has the shittiest romances). but, elizabeth lim surprised me with her writing in the best way possible.

lets start with the writing: absolutely gorgeous. i adore the detailed and descriptive way that elizabeth lim weaved middle eastern and east asian culture into the story. you could tell that she enjoyed it a ton. the stories and lingo and even the description of the food and clothing that everyone wore was great.

the characters were all so well-written. i loved maia with a burning passion--she was sassy yet sweet and i feel like she kept her character consistent while also developing her throughout the story. baba and keton (even finlei and her other brother who, at the moment, i can't remember his name) were all such great and well written characters. i loved edan more than i would have expected.

what i do want to day is, i disliked how elizabeth lim wrote some of the "villain" characters, because it's so clear that she wrote them to be villains. lady sarnai and the emperor had no purpose aside from being villains, so they were written as overly cold and "power-hungry" characters.

i will say, though, i was pleasantly surprised with the romance. i was really dreading having to read some annoying romance in a high fantasy book, but i feel like it was a very likeable romance, with loads of chemistry, and it didn't make the characters stray away from the storyline/their quest.

all in all, a very good book. not sure if i'll read the second one, but only time will tell!

-rebe