Whilst I was reading this book, I really enjoyed it. It fulfilled exactly the purpose I wanted from a book at the time: it was an easy before-bed read that kept me away from screens in the evening with its interesting world, long lost queen, and a moody prince who needed bringing down a peg or two. The last 50 pages were so action-packed it became my commute read and I know I will read the sequel. However, the further away from finishing I get, the more flaws I find with the book as a whole.

Firstly, nothing much particularly happens, and the pace feels deliberately slow not for world-building purposes but because this is destined to be part one of a series (a duology?). If time had been dedicated to expanding the world a bit more, I wouldn't have minded this so much, but it's so heavily-weighted towards the last 50 pages that the plot suddenly becomes very intense and feels a bit ridiculous.

Given that this is billed as a forbidden romance, it's pretty obvious who is going to fall in love, but this predictability isn't what I minded so much as the insta-love aspect. Alizeh's eyes are so enchanting Kamran immediately falls in love having seen them once and can't stop thinking about her, especially when seemingly simply by existing she disproves all of his cynical theories about her. Given that in terms of plot not much happens, there was definitely room to explore the romance more and not just reduce it to a fated forbidden romance that fills the respective participants with inexplicable feelings of desire when they're in the vicinity of each other.

Having said this, I did enjoy reading This Woven Kingdom. The use of dual POVs worked really well and the drip-feeding of mini cliffhangers at the end of each perspective propelled me reading forward and gave me a short-term hit of excitement. It's just a shame that this was only short-term, and the enjoyment kind of wore off after finishing.