Hmm, where to begin.

I think overall, i found this pretty basic.

While there were a lot of things going for it, there were elements missing that I personally need in order to really get invested into a story. I'm a sucker for action, cliffhanger chapter endings and intrigue etc. and this didnt give as much in that regard for me. The worldbuilding was very ambitious and even by the end of the book, while many things came to light, there was still some uncertainty about who was who and what was what.

So, what's it about?
In a world that is divided by magic and race, Jasminda is half White (Elsiran) and half Black (Lagrimari). The Lagrimari have magic known as Earthsong which the Elsirans are jealous/scared of and the two have been at war for years. The leader of Lagrimar is some kind of mysterious dictator stealing Earthsong from his people, so they're running away, forced to become refugees in neighbouring Elsira.

Cue the race/struggle narrative where our heroine Jasminda goes through life being the Other and no one liking her because she's Black. Yawn.
We continue on and she meets Hot White Boy Jack and since he's down with the swirl and knows her language and stuff, so even though he's technically the 'enemy' of course she loves him. Yawn.

We have another group of characters in Ella and her husband Benn, who were probably the most interesting. They're fighting against some sinister sisterhood of nun types who stole a baby and she has to try and get it back for reasons unknown. While Ella and Benn were sweet enough, there was too much unnecessary backstory for them and lack of answers for the amount they were on page.

So not to be completely negative, the best thing about this was the world and the thought that went into creating it. It is layered to a certain point of complexity, but as this is a lengthy series, there is a lot of room to make matters a lot clearer. While i like to have my information upfront and early on, others don't so this works fairly well.
There is also romance/sex in this. Nothing too heavy but its present for those that care about that. I found it to be a bit insta-love which while i dont have an issue with, was annoying because no matter what was going on, they had time to worry about how much they fancied each other. Like come on. Refugees are being shot. Priorities ma boi! Ha!

Overall, it just felt a little too plain for me. I wasn't excited to turn the page and i wasn't super invested until over half way through/almost 350 pages. The pacing was off for the most part and with characters not particularly layered, it takes a while to get into.

Because of that then, 3 stars and im still not even entirely sure i want to continue the series. There's clearly a lot to discover/learn but i'm not sure i care to get through the snail pace to get there.