I really enjoyed this book, I’m just trying to be a bit more accurate with my ratings. A year ago this would’ve been five stars. 

It took a bit to get into, especially since you don’t see how the prologue connects to the rest of the story for a while and kind of forget what happened in it. Maybe this was just me because I read that part two months ago though. It’s pretty fast paced once you get 70-100 pages in. The writing style is easy to read but not overly simplistic, which I appreciate. I especially liked the outfit descriptions. 

I much preferred Eliana’s POV over Rielle’s, I just liked the traveling/mystery story better than the trial and royal court story. Rielle’s story was more for world building/background in Eliana’s story, not the main plot line for me. I also feel like I enjoyed Eliana as a character more (women with swords!!) and her backstory. 

I’m excited to read the next book, and I’m grateful that this one didn’t end on a cliffhanger because I would have trouble remembering all the details. 

The prophecy is done well in my opinion, since you don’t know for sure how it ends up coming true. I’m curious to see exactly how Rielle ends up

killing Audric, considering how much she loves him now.

Also,

I absolutely adore Simon and Eliana’s relationship aaaah. The first scene with both of them I was like “I think we know how this is going to go” the tension was 100% there. Props to LeGrand for that. It’s also more of a slow burn, which I enjoy. Sure, Audric and Rielle’s relationship is more spicy (so far) but it seemed a bit fast to me.

Overall, solid. I recommend to fans of high fantasy with elements of mystery.