As someone who loves the rest of this series, I had a difficult time getting into this one. Anyone picking it up be warned that the first half is incredibly slow moving, orienting you into this new world of Winterkeep while still remaining relevant to the rest of the world we already know. Cashore is known for her world-building. but there was a lot of information about the world and not enough about the characters in that first half of the book.

If you make it past that first half, the second half has what I love about Cashore's writing. Gutsy characters, intricate mysteries in politics, characters desperately trying to expose those who are abusing their power. There are actually quite a few narrators in this one, which also makes it difficult to follow the story at times. 

This can be read without reading the other Graceling realm books, there will just be background information on some of the characters that you're missing. However, I probably wouldn't dive into this one first, if you aren't familiar with any of the previous novels. I think the previous novels give you context, and I would probably at least read Bitterblue before jumping into this one. There's a bit of a time jump, but I think it helps with a bit of the world-building.

All in all, I think this book could have been shorter and still get its point across. I'm curious of Cashore is going to keep exploring this world, though, because there are definitely avenues she could explore.