Review contains spoilers!

It was honestly difficult to decide how to rate this. First and foremost, I think it's fantastic. The world, the characters, the unique twist on familiar fantasy elements. There is a lot going on in this book. And it happens quickly at times. Events that seem major enough to go at the end of a trilogy rather than the beginning. Puzzles solved out of the blue. The pacing is a bit questionable as a result. But I feel it's all a catalyst to set up bigger mysteries of the past in the rest of the trilogy, so I can forgive that a bit if the trilogy lives up to it. My biggest grievance about this book is Yeeran and Furi's relationship. Enemies-to-Lovers is one thing. But they went from wanting each other dead to being helplessly in love. There wasn't much, if any, of a messy and HOT in between that I like from EtL tropes. I think they should have had a heated encounter that shows their mutual attraction and built from that in the next book. Because here it just feels forced and a bit unbelievable. Overall, I was drawn into this world and can't wait for the next book!