Wow, just wow, this is one hell of a debut.

Going into it, I had already some familiarity with the legends of King Arthur, though I wouldn't say I'm a diehard fan. Given the book's length, I was worried about losing interest, but Tracy Deonn has done an astounding job of reimagining these mythic figures through a modern lens that is amazingly fresh and lends to some engaging insight on how we view lineages, inheritances, and how our connections to the past affect our futures.

Bree's trauma and grief towards her mother's death, something that follows her throughout the story, is startingly genuine, which makes sense as Deonn mentions she pulled a lot of inspiration from her own life. You can feel the myriad of emotions Bree is trying to process, as they are put so elegantly on the page. The rawness is what really got me, the anger at a seemingly tangible, yet unseeable force that took away her mother.  Her journey shows how complex and overwhelming these feelings can be, and I'm glad it's such an important and layered aspect of her development.

I was also pleasantly surprised at all the normalized queer representation in the book. We have characters that are gay, lesbian, bisexual and nonbinary, and they are simply allowed to exist without their identities being their sole character trait. I would say Greer, the nonbinary character, is the only one whose identity is especially dwelled upon, but it is meant to give Bree a fellow comrade in the experience of "getting into spaces that weren't originally made for them." I know this is weird to say, but I'm also glad there's a moment where Greer unintentionally makes a microagression towards Bree and rightfully gets called out, showing that even if you're also a marginalized person, you're still capable of doing harm to other marginalized peoples.

While the pace is somewhat slow at points, it all culminates in one of the most gripping, tense, and shocking climaxes I've read in a long time. There were literally points where I had to stop and just think about what happened. Sure, it could probably read as too much going on too fast, but really I was just getting more and more amped as it went along. 

Even though I really enjoyed the story, its characters, and themes, I think I have to give it a 4.5 because some of the world-building was a little too complex for me. I don't have the mind to understand family trees or lineages or how the transfer of power works within the Order. Other than that, this is a solid read and one that I urge fantasy lovers to pick up immediately.