I have not been this invested in a fictional relationship in a very long time.

I probably added Winter's Orbit to my TBR during my sci-fi binge of 2023, but I put it off because I'm not usually a fan of big political plots...if someone would've told me it was angsty I would have read it much sooner because once I passed the 40% mark, I didn't really want to put it down.
The book centers around an arranged marriage between Prince Kiem and Count Jainan (whose other partner has died recently). They must convince everyone of a happy marriage to save the treaty between their home countries. The beginning of the story is fairly political, but the action really picks up towards the middle and while it's still politically focused, the angst and the action were amazing. The ending was extremely high-stakes and I don't know if it's because I haven't read anything exceptionally good lately, but I was super stressed out about it.
I'm going to be honest and admit that I didn't really pay much attention to some of the side characters. Bel was cool and I thought Gairad was neat for the 5% of the book that she was actually relevant. The main two POV characters, though...I can't remember the last time I found a new book couple that genuinely has chemistry that I like. Kiem reminded me a lot of Kase from Realms of Wrath and Ruin with his playboy prince personality (one of my favorites). That designates Jainan as the angsty, quiet one, of course, and I loved him too. For some reason, the two of them reminded me of Noam and Dara from The Fever King but I have no idea why.
I read way more fantasy than sci-fi, but Winter's Orbit is threatening to push me into another space sci-fi binge.
4.5/5

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