A girl who can see and speak to the dead, a war, deadly secrets, and a cult. With no one to trust and so many plots happening, Raine will have to navigate unknown terrain, relationships, and deciding who she can truly trust. One day when Raine rescues a woman fleeing from Redwinter, a fortress-monastery of the Draoihn, a warrior magician group who answer to no king and will stop at nothing to reclaim what this fleeing woman has stolen. Raine rescues her and takes her back to her to be healed, Raine is in an abusive and toxic relationship with the leader of her group who hits her and treats her like a child. When the Draoihn come seeking to reclaim the woman and what she stole Raine’s people are suddenly fighting against them, but admist the battle something terrible is unleashed and Raine’s entire group is slain except for her. Now she is taken back to enter the citadel and live with the Draoihn. There she discovers that her secret abilities could save an entire nation... except her powers would get her killed here if anyone finds out and she must also navigate difficult power dynamics within the monastery, especially between a childish future ruler and his quiet warrior cousin who seems to want to keep his distance from her. The story had an interesting start but started to lag in the middle but picked up in the end again. The tone is quite dreary and while I was interested in the magic system and what was occurring with the ghost and the dead spirits, I had to constantly remind myself not to be annoyed with people and their decisions, particularly Raine, when she is in fact only a 17 year old girl still trying to find her place, trying to find people who will love and care for her, while juggling a dark secret. Overall, definitely an interesting start to the series and I will be looking forward to how the next book develops and how the characters grow.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*