4.5 stars
This was so freaking good!
The main character Wren was brash and stubborn and a little too prideful, but also easily lovable. She’s the kind of character that, though flawed and sometimes annoying, you can’t help but root for. She desperately needed some character growth, but instead of being written in a way that was too much and too infuriating to read, she was written in a way that made you want to go on that growing experience with her, and throughout the book (and presumably throughout the series), you do get to watch her grow.
The book starts a bit slow. The first 30% or so is all set up before the plot can get going. It’s exposition heavy and does rely on info-dumping perhaps a bit too often. However, even though the main plot hasn’t started yet, there are interesting things happening. There are moments of high tension and fast-paced action, it just still feels a little slow up until the point where Wren goes past the wall. That is the point of no return, where the plot feels like it’s actually starting, and it is a ways in. Before that point I was interested, but I wasn’t invested, and though I did keep reading, it took me a while to do so because I was not especially eager to pick the book back up when I’d set it down. I never felt like DNFing, but nor did I feel especially compelled to keep reading right then and there. That slowness at the beginning (and the fact that it did last for about 1/3 of the book, and over 100 pages) is the only thing keeping this from being a 5 star read, because everything after that? Phenomenal.
As soon as she’s past the wall, the tension and pacing really pick up. She always had a goal, but it was vague and unattainable—now she has a tangible goal and there are steps she can take to reach it. She’s met Julian, the other major player, and the stakes are rising every chapter. By the time I reached the 40% mark, I could not put the book down. It took me almost a week to read the first 35%, but after that, I finished the book in 12 hours.
The worldbuilding was interesting and relatively unique. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was well developed and not contrived. Despite the occasional info-dump, I wanted to learn more about the world, magic system, and mythos.
The book is written in third person and told primarily from Wren’s POV, however there are chapter’s narrated by Prince Leo at regular intervals and perhaps 3-5 chapters from Julian’s POV. I really enjoyed the fresh perspective Leo’s narration gave. His experiences were separate from Wren and Julian’s and seeing his narration felt necessary and like it was adding something to the experience. Julian’s POV did not.
I understand why Julian’s POV was added. Most of his chapters revealed an interesting piece of information that pointed to a reveal and added to the tension. However, unlike the reveals in Leo’s chapter, this information was not strictly necessary to the plot. Yes, it added tension, but I felt like there were ways to do so that felt more cohesive to the narration than randomly and unexpectedly flipping to a third narrator. It was jarring to slip into his narration. I think if there had been more of his narration woven throughout, and if that narration felt like it was more vital to the story, I wouldn’t have had an issue with it, but as it was it just felt like it wasn’t executed to the highest level.
In the end, I really enjoyed that book—and also THAT ENDING?!?!?!?!—and I can’t wait for book 2! In the mean time, I hope to check out Nicki Pau Preto’s debut trilogy, because I found that despite a few things, I really enjoyed her writing.