I'm a bit conflicted on how to rate this one. I think I'm going to rate this based off of feels which lands me on 4 stars because ultimately I did really enjoy this and thought it was a fun read. I enjoyed the setting and story but I'm conflicted because this story was reminiscent of a mixture of other stories that I've previously read. It wasn't the most unique story but I think that the author was still able to put a bit of her own spin on this. I loved the magical creatures that Cecy Robson wove into this story. The estrellas had me absolutely lovestruck.


Fight to the death gladiator arena, princess offering a deal with formidable gladiator, falling in love with said gladiator and overcoming an evil opponent trying to forcibly take the princess's hand in marriage to gain power. Not a groundbreaking storyline and neither was the romance, but again, if you're a fan of similar books then you should love this one. The gladiator arena had me reminiscing to Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff which was personally my first book that I read with this kind of concept.

I think if you can take this book at face value, you'll enjoy this more. I do really love books with a fight to the death arena so I don't mind that this story didn't feel quite as unique as some others.

I'm also primarily a horror/thriller reader, so whenever I read a book like this, I'm mostly just in it for a good time and am more lenient.