I received this book through a Goodreads/Inkshare giveaway.

This book surprised me. Gary Whita's writing is simplistic but effective. I sped through the book and found myself not wanting to put it down, especially at the beginning.

The book starts with a bang. After a brief background on the kingdom and king, we dive right in.
" And then the thing – it could no longer reasonably be called a pig – rose up on its six newly formed legs, each bristling with thick, fibrous hairs. The creature's jaw unhinged and dropped wide, revealing a mouthful of sharply pointed fangs ."
And this is only page 9. The descriptions immediately bring a picture to mind as on a movie screen. Fitting, as this is the screenwriter author's debut novel.

The characters are well fleshed and thought out. You definitely get an immediate sense of which side of the light the characters are on. No wishy, washy-ness there. I was slightly annoyed with Indra's moodiness, but she is a teenager technically.

The plot runs right along without too many pauses or breaks. While the ending was a little too pat (aren't most movie endings?), it wrapped up the storyline and gave the book a semi happy ending without being too abrupt. I would have liked to have a little more detail but such is life.

All in all, an enjoyable and quick read.