Brenden has always felt more comfortable with plants and animals rather than people. He meets a sorceress named Od, who invites him to be the gardener at her school for wizards. He discovers that the way he can wordlessly communicate with plants and animals might be a type of magic. The magic school has very strict rules about what types of magic can be used, and they are bound by the laws of the king. But the wizards aren't sure what to make of Brenden's type of magic.

Princess Selys has her own magical secret which she keeps hidden from her father the king. Yar is a teacher at the school who is frustrated with the strict rules the wizards must follow. Mistral is a travelling magician's daughter who is hoping to make some money performing a show in the city, but the king's guard are very suspicious that her act might be real magic instead of just illusion.
All these characters want to find a way to express themselves through magic, but the king's laws don't allow them to be their true selves.

I really liked the enchanting writing style of this book. I've tried to read some other books by this author where the writing was very disjointed, but in this book, the writing flows along really well. I love the way that magic is described, not just by the results of the magic and how it looks, but also by how it feels to the magic-user when they are in the midst of channeling power to work a spell. It's really intense, intricate, and personal to each character.

The characters are all very complex and interesting. They all have an emotional journey that leads them to realize that they cannot live under the restrictions of the king's laws anymore. They are willing to risk everything in order to be able to express their true magic.

I liked that the plot includes a lot of mysteries and strange legends and puzzles to be solved. There is a labyrinth with a map at the center, but the map does not lead you out of the labyrinth. The labyrinth changes for each person who enters it, reflecting that person's thoughts. If your thoughts are clear, you can find the center and find your way out more easily.

I took off a star because the ending is very Deus ex machina. It was good, but everything wrapped up too quickly and easily.
And I took off a half star because I did not care for all the head-hopping. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, going back and forth from Brenden, Yar, Selys, Mistral, and a guard named Arneth. In the beginning, when the characters are all following their own paths, this was okay. But towards the end, all their storylines start to merge, and it got sort of confusing. Multiple POVs is one of my pet peeves, and very few authors can write it successfully. Having five separate POVs was just too much.

Overall, I really liked the world-building, the magic system, the mysterious plot, and the characters. This book has convinced me to give this author another try!