Disclaimer: I received this book for free from KidLitExchange. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4.5/5

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, mature topics)

Pages: 464

Author Website

Amazon Link

Synopsis: In the ancient river kingdom, touch is a battlefield, bodies the instruments of war. Seventeen-year-old Mia Rose has pledged her life to hunting Gwyrach: women who can manipulate flesh, bones, breath, and blood.

Not women. Demons. The same demons who killed her mother without a single scratch.

But when Mia's father suddenly announces her marriage to the prince, she is forced to trade in her knives and trousers for a sumptuous silk gown. Only after the wedding goes disastrously wrong does she discover she has dark, forbidden magic—the very magic she has sworn to destroy.

Oh my gosh, how this book was gorgeous on the inside and the outside. This book grabs your attention immediately and never lets go throughout. The characters are well developed, the plot was interesting and engaging, and writing was really well done! Mia is the type of character I long for in books and the book had strong LGBT+ inclusion in it. I literally couldn’t put this book down.

However, I did feel that the pacing was a bit off. It was like we would get an action scene and then the book would kinda slow down during it but then immediately pick back up. It sometimes went too slow between the action scenes and then too fast at the action scenes. It was kinda weirdly paced, but the story wasn’t hampered at all. I also wish we had more world building in the book.

Verdict: Overall, I feel this book will break some hearts this year.