A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Bloom Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, this was a very typical fantasy/romantasy that I think I’d have read when I was about fifteen-ish before my standards were raised. I had issues with the romance, the plot, the character interactions, as well as the diversity (there isn’t any). HOWEVER this book was really easy to read, and if you can accept some of the issues I’ll write a little bit later I think you could enjoy this book. The book goes very fast, and it’s not hard to follow the plot nor the character interactions. Also, this book is potentially a good beginning book to continue this series, as we can see the larger worldbuilding hinted at in this novel. I looked at the plots of the other books, and even while not enjoying this one, I would consider reading the others - if only to see how the MMC’s are portrayed. I could see these novels as easy palette cleansers between other books.

Don’t read further because I get mean. Reader beware you’re in for a scare, and all that.

My biggest issue in this novel is the purity culture nonsense. SO MUCH of the inner dialogue in this novel is about how being “pure” (a virgin) is SO IMPORTANT and that you MUST SAVE YOURSELF FOR MARRIAGE. Listen, if I wanted to get that nonsense preached at me I’d go back to church so they could slutshame anyone with a pulse. There’s also the fact that a lot of the mythology worldbuilding/religion is never explained and seems to be just Christianity with the name of Hades changed from Hell. (Sidenote: Why is there a Hades? How does this relate at ALL to this story? No other Greek gods are mentioned, so I can only assume this was used because it felt more “fantasy” than simply saying “Hell.” To be completely honest, why weren't new swear words invented, relating to the world this novel is in? Something dragon related, perhaps? There also isn’t any religion mentioned, so having words related to this non-existent religion is also confusing.)

Another issue is the fact that the FMC is the TEXTBOOK case of “not like other girls.” She hunts, she wears pants, she hates dresses, she wants to/joins the army, she’s rude, she doesn’t eat daintily - etc, etc, etc. Which, there is NOTHING wrong with this - it’s just an issue when every single time she meets another woman she disparages her in her head for not being any different. She’s so UNIQUE you know? That must make her special. There is literally only ONE OTHER female character she really respects who is EXACTLY like her, and that’s it. Sure, she pretends to like the other women in this novel, but even when she’s getting along with them she’s insulting them either behind their back or in her head, and then laughs at them because they don’t like how rude she is (but she’s just like “it's because I’m so DIFFERENT”). It gets old fast.

There’s even a fucking quote from the MMC about his “dream woman” that PERFECTLY encapsulates this.
“My dream woman would have hair the color of moonlight, she’d want to hunt and shoot bows and arrows with my friends and me, she wouldn’t fuss over dresses and fashion, and she’d eat normal portions of food, not pick at salads like a bird.”
If you have a functioning brain you’ll see the issue with this quote, starting with “she’s not like other girls” and “I expect her to be skinny but I don’t want her to make an effort at it” and “she needs to be one of the boys, but also hot and feminine and sexually available to me.” Bruh.

Also, SPOILERS AHEAD:
But a huge portion of the plot is how the king needs an heir to keep his magic alive. AND he’s losing his magic at an alarming rate, AND if he entirely loses his magic everyone in the kingdom with a connection to his magic (a good 90% of the population) will die. And our plucky FMC spends SO MUCH of our time griping about how “she’s not just a womb” and only caring if the MMC likes her for “who she is” and whatnot. And like, sure, those are good points - in any other novel. Honestly, I get that she’s only 18 but yikes and grow the fuck up. There’s a reason the king sent out a notice to all women of childbearing age with ANY magic - he needs an heir, like, yesterday.

Also, if the worldbuilding in this novel made an OUNCE of sense and wasn’t just white European Christianity with a fantasy filter over it, the king would have at least 10 wives and twice as many concubines to ensure he was never without an heir and the losing magic thing was never a concern. But I digress. So when the FMC and the MMC finally get together and decide to get married, they learn that there could be an issue with a potential child due to their bloodlines. They agree to let the king have 3 mistresses for an heir, and our little FMC is so UPSET about this. And then the king decides he can’t do it, and to just risk it for the biscuit and try with her anyway. (It works because these are looney tunes rules here, but in reality he should have slept with all 4 of them to be safe.)

Not to even mention the one description of when they finally have sex. Yikes. Her internal dialogue is about how her “purity” is SO IMPORTANT that she was SAVING IT FOR HIM and she’s glad she waited until now instead of just giving it to anyone like SOME OTHER GIRLS. Miss ma’am. AND LITERALLY ALL HE DOES IS TOUCH HER BOOBS AND FINGER HER A BIT, AND THEN PUTS HIS DICK IN HER AND THEN FINISHES OUTSIDE OF HER. They spend so much time discussing how he doesn’t like these other women he has to sleep with to save his kingdom and how it won’t be like this with them, and I’m like??? Be like what? My dude, you literally slept with her like she WAS one of these random mistresses you need to get pregnant, and not like you gave a rat’s ass about her or her pleasure.

I think honestly if we cut back on all the pitfalls I mentioned, this book would be better and would have made me more invested in the world. However, if you’re fine with purity Christianity undertones and “not like other girls” nonsense, this fantasy could be a good fit. It’s quick and easy to read, and only took me like 3 hours to finish - so it’s not a huge investment of time. However, for me it felt like it was taken straight from the early 2010s and not 2022, so I couldn't get into it.