I'm happy to say I really enjoyed this book. I had read the prequel to the series, Morrighan, and also really enjoyed it, so it's not really surprising I liked this book. Lia is a very interesting character that definitely shows growth as the story progresses. She starts off as someone who craves freedom and independence from the political entanglements that are unfortunately a part of her life as the daughter of a ruler. I was really happy to see her get to the end of the book understanding that her actions affect more than just herself and making the selfless decision to try and complete the terms of her arranged marriage to stop a war from breaking out.



**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**



Rafe also came to be someone I really liked. His prideful nature is what leads him to chase after Lia. He literally is just upset that she escaped the arranged marriage before he did. It was great to see Rafe get to know Lia and for them to mutually admire each other slowly. Rafe is compassionate and doesn't judge Lia for her actions. If anything, he learns to respect her for escaping and for her courage to stand up for herself and others. The scene where she calls out the soldiers in the tavern for harassing someone was one of my favorite because it gives insight into who she is as a person. She's very likeable because she believes in treating people fairly and fighting off people who abuse their power.

I really liked the way the author made sure to make it as ambiguous as possible who was out to kill Lia between Kaden and Rafe. It added an interesting layer to the story and a bit more mystery to how things would end. The side characters in the story like Pauline also added more dimension to Lia. It was nice that she had an already established friendship and also someone to compare her lack of romantic experience to. It was a bit upsetting for me that Mikael ended up being a huge jerk. At first when Walther described him as such I was hoping that maybe he was wrong, but turns out he probably wasn't. It really is a shame because Pauline is such a cool person and single motherhood isn't exactly a cakewalk. 

Walther is definitely another of my favorites in this story. It really broke my heart a little when he lost his wife Greta. He was really in love with his wife and in a large way stopped caring about living when he lost her and his unborn child. We didn't get to see a lot of Walther, but the little we did see still made him really likeable. He has a very nice sibling relationship with Lia. He's a really cool older brother who made sure to support her in her decision and loves his sister very much. Losing Walther was probably one of the most upsetting parts of the book for me. His dynamic with Lia is one of my favorite sibling dynamics. Sucks it won't be there in future books.

As for Kaden, he seems to be getting less morally ambiguous. By the end of the book it is obvious he cares for Lia, but his loyalty to his own and jealousy over Rafe and Lia's relationship seems to be getting the best of him. I definitely prefer Rafe as a love interest because he's a bit more charming than Kaden is and has more in common with Lia. I'm excited to get to the next book because Lia seems to be willing to forgive Rafe for hiding his identity from her which should make their relationship progression in the second book a lot less rocky. Great first installment for the series, overall.