The first 3/4 of this book is about a 3-Star read for me. The last 1/4 was so good that I had to bump it up to 4 stars. This book is not perfect, but I really enjoyed my reading experience of it.

What I liked:
1. The world building. This is definitely the main strength of this book, in my opinion. The author produces a rich, lush, vivid world in both her descriptions and also the inclusion of folklore and culture. I was just eating it up.

2. Amrita and Thala. When I began the story I thought it would be about Amrita and Arjun being on the run. When it turned into Amrita and Thala, I was pleasantly surprised. I felt like both characters were well-drawn and their dynamic was almost sisterly, which I really liked.

3. The ending was really lovely. I’m not going to spoil anything, but I really liked the way Amrita’s story turned out. It was completely fitting and authentic to her character.

What I didn’t like:
*’Didn’t like’ is perhaps overstating my feelings, but since this is how I usually structure my reviews I’m sticking with it. Some of this is a little nitpicky.*

1. The romance/love triangle. I ended up not minding the triangle aspect of this in the very end with the way everything turned out. However, as I was reading it felt wholly unnecessary. I don’t want to get into spoilers, but I didn’t feel like either romantic arc was super engrossing.
There is a sort of ‘fated-love’ trope going on that I don’t have a problem with, in theory. But in execution, I wish that the author had decided to execute that trope a little differently. In my mind, just because two people are fated to be together doesn’t mean that they have to be in love instantaneously. I guess I just wish I’d gotten a little more build up and interaction with those characters so I could’ve been invested in their relationship. The idea of fated love should be incredibly romantic, but I just didn’t get that feeling when I read this book, and I say that as someone who is a sucker for romance.

2. The plot/pacing was a little off. This book was very short, and I never felt bored while reading it. That being said, the first 3/4 of the book is just Amrita and Thala trying to get away from people chasing them. There isn’t a whole lot in the way of plot. They have overarching goals that they are trying to accomplish, but mostly it’s them on the run. Then we get to the last quarter of the book and it’s non-stop action. So many decisions are made and actions are taken and we don’t really get a chance to breathe. Again, I don’t want to spoil anything, but I felt like the author could’ve expanded the last quarter and fleshed out some of the secondary characters. It feels like we are told a lot, but not shown much in that section.

3. Plot devices masked as fate. There were several instances of coincidental plot devices that I think we as readers are supposed to write off as being ‘fate’ but just felt a little lazy to me. Amrita and Thala are told to find a specific cartographer to help them. As they are on the run they duck into a place to hide that just happens to lead them straight to the cartographer, despite the fact that neither of them had ever met this cartographer and had no idea where to find her. This happens completely by chance and they wouldn’t have been able to continue on their journey without meeting her. This is just one instance of this happening.

All in all, I really did like this book, even while there are aspects I would’ve liked to have a bit more depth. I will certainly seek out more from this author in the future.