i was very excited for this wlw, Persian-inspired adventure- and it had those aspects for sure, but in a manner that left me a bit disappointed. it was written with a noticeable "tell, not show" style that had the same few points about each character being rehashed every chapter, making them all feel very flat. their often inexplicable actions prevented the plot from flowing smoothly. and the romance was there, but it wasn't quite fleshed out.

that said, i did enjoy the concept of soraya's curse, the general gist of the adventure, and the worldbuilding. i think there was a lot of potential there, and some of it was brought to life but much of it was wasted.