This book was a LOT but in the best of ways!

It's one of those books where you can just tell the author has a whole handbook written on the world and it's lore, yet still understands to only share what's needed with the reader. It seriously felt so perfectly balanced between giving too much and not enough information about the world, and while I still got lost at points, it was mainly due to me not remembering the names of certain characters in the lore (I blame the audiobook (and not having spellings available to me because of that) and reading this over the course of 3 weeks for my book club for that though). On top of that, the world itself is actually extremely interesting and I loved every part about it. The lore was wonderful, from the grimfolk to all the stories that are interwoven with the history of the nations in the novel. The magic and belief systems were also a joy to read and piece together, from the alignment based on days of week (which felt a lot like astrology!) to the actual magic that gets revealed and discussed more later in the book. There was also a tense political atmosphere, both within Karina's kingdom and between the nations surrounding it. It came together to create a rich and lush world that I loved being in.

The characters were also compelling, and even though Karina and Malik often opposed each other, I couldn't help but cheer for both of them. Malik was such a cinnamon roll of a character, (he just wants to save everyone! he just wants everyone to be happy!), but without being too much of a pushover and still standing up for what he believes. Karina also had a lot of growth in this book alone, and I loved seeing her grow into a great queen. The side characters were also super complementary to the two MCs without seeming shallow, and there's a lot of favorites I'm hoping to see more of in the next book.

The plot was also exciting and a joy to read, even if I have to admit it dragged a little in the middle and there were some scenes that could have lasted longer. I loved the idea of the challenges and especially liked the second and third ones, and what they brought out in all of the characters. Additionally, I loved how the myths came back to life alongside the plot, and past and present seemed to interweave to create the story we were reading. While some things were predictable, there were still many moments and twists that surprised me, and some scenes were so well-written (and well-narrated) to make these moments even more tense, and it was so fun to read.

Overall, I'm super excited to read the next book in the series, and I really enjoyed the discussions this book provoked in my book club! Definitely recommend this one.