Definitely, one of the strongest points of The Impostor Queen was its fascinatingly complex magic system and mysterious prophecy. At first glance, it would seem that the story had an airtight, intricately woven world-building. However, while there were plenty of efforts to establish a detailed magic system, I felt that too much pertinent information was withheld, especially with regards to social and political hierarchies, culture, and societal history. There were a number of gaps to work with, which often led to confusion and vagueness.

Most of the characters were not as dimensional as I would have liked. I found it difficult to invest in any of them. In the case of the main heroine, Elli had a very childlike quality to her character that seemed to be unfit for the story. Between the Elli in the childhood flashbacks and the 16-year-old Elli, her voice in the narrative showed minimal changes. Despite this, I still thought of Elli as a remarkably admirable heroine in the sense that she was compassionate, honorable, and driven.

The pacing of The Impostor Queenn was uneven and inconsistent, that is, frustratingly sluggish in the beginning, totally plateau-like in the middle, and relatively quick only towards the end. The slow progression and the predictability of the events made it challenging to maintain my interest throughout my reading experience. On a more positive note, however, I was fascinated by the balancing of fire and ice magic and I greatly appreciated how power struggles and political intrigue were incorporated into the story.

With that said, The Impostor Queen had all the elements of an addictive, complex fantasy novel, but unfortunately, the execution itself was significantly underwhelming and left a lot to be desired. Still, I am curious enough to maybe read what happens next.