THIS SURVIVED A NEAR DNF.

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I had to ask my Bookstagram friends if this was worth it to keep going. They did say the first book isn’t *great* but does get better, then the rest of the series picks up so I thought, okay…well I’ll finish it then.

I’m satisfied I did. It was nothing spectacular, but the premise is interesting.

MY BIGGEST ISSUE Y’ALL? The amount of unanswered questions you’re left with. No I’m serious. I have a list of at least 10:

- Why do the Queens have to kill each other?
- Who are seriously half these people?
- Anyone have a background story? No? Oh okay.
- What’s the Quickening?
- What is Beltane?
- Why does the Queen leave her triplets?
- Why triplets?
- Why is the island hidden?
- What’s the deal with the mainland suitors?
- We only met one…okay then.
- Random book boyfriends with no background? That tracks.
- What’s the Disembarking?
- Why is the island only sometimes visible?
- Where did the Queen even go?
- Why are they split up?
- How does this magic system even work?
- Why can’t they leave the island ever?

SEE? I’m seriously annoyed at how much I don’t know. The world-building is minuscule. It’s poorly constructed and I beg of the second book to get it together should I pick it up anytime soon.

While that was an issue I did enjoy how quick of a read it is. The writing is set up to where it takes out the flowery flourish paragraphs that I personally don’t need a ton of and keeps us involved in the story and dialogue. It did get better at about the halfway point, so there’s that.

But also, I hate Joseph.And I hate when cheating is used as a plot device. I can’t stand it in books and this was enraging to me. I didn’t like how Joseph went about his business and I don’t see the point of him sleeping with [redacted]. UGH. Clearly I’m still upset about it.

I like the differences in the Queen’s thoughts and mannerisms. They are unique individuals and don’t read as the same person. The magic system could use a thorough explanation. This almost read more like a prequel novel than anything else, because not much happened until the last 50 pages. We mostly got to know the Queens and see them trying to use their powers.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- Language: none
- Romance: some kisses, a fade to black, no detail, love scene
- Violence: animal attacks, poison, elemental magic, physical
- Trigger warnings: cheating