Very fun and fast-paced read, the first book in this series serves as an introduction to what I anticipate will be a very dynamic and trope-bending adventure.

I listened to the audiobook, and I can say hands-down that this is the best audiobook narrator that I've ever listened to (and I listened to ~100 audiobooks last year). I usually avoid listening to audiobooks without a physical or e-book copy to reference because I get distracted if I don't know how to spell certain names, but it didn't happen with this audiobook. Everything was so smooth that I didn't find myself distracted at all.

The quite large cast of characters all stood out as individuals and were relatively well fleshed out, particularly in such a slim volume. I really enjoyed the balance of universality/individuality in our protagonist. One of the most annoying things I find with YA is that the protagonists are too much of a blank slate in order for younger readers to see themselves in the character. This doesn't happen here: Vivilyn is a relatively sheltered teenager and it's clear she's going to grow and change throughout the series, but she starts off with a solid base of preferences, opinions, unique hobbies, etc.

I'm really looking forward to the next book and discovering how magic plays/ed a role in the politics of this world.