I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book.

I liked the premise, I liked the writing, I liked the last 30% of it and the way it flowed.

The world building was elaborate and well described. It felt real and was easy to melt into. 

I enjoyed Phosphoria as the main character - her resolve to be a good queen and push through and her smart plans are interesting. Her inability to lie and need to answer a direct question is a fun twist in a book about royal politics where deception and twisting words are essentially required to accomplish anything. 

However, the book felt slow to start. The political machinations and getting to know the suitors felt very drawn out and I was unsure what the real aim was for most of the book. The book felt undirected, despite being well written with interesting threads being created. 

The ending was the real disappointment for me. I could have moved past the slower start, but it feels like the story didn’t end. They discover the betrayer and that’s it. That’s the end. There’s no confrontation, no reveal of what happened to him or their future moving forward. No discussion of the impact of the betrayal, whether their tactics worked out, nothing. Just identifying who it is. 

The book wasn’t finished. The threads never wrapped up. 

Ultimately, I am left disappointed. I had such high hopes for this book, and enjoyed reading it despite the slow build, but ultimately the ending wasn’t worth the time to read it because there was no ending. 

I received this as an ARC and I’m grateful for the opportunity to read it as it has much potential.