I still think this is a weak start to the series but I can't rate it below 4 because I love it
****
Upon re reading and having read the rest of the series I have to say that I was wrong. Or maybe right, but I got so into it that I didn't care

****
not as good as I expected it to be. I found the constant descriptions of how beautiful and perfect the main character was redundant and extremely irritating. I also didn't like how much foreshadowing there was. without those things it would have been a lot better. I'll read the next book and see how I feel about finishing the series.

I really enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would based on reviews. I hesitated to start it having heard it was a slow start and a lot of people found it boring but I was very engaged the whole time. I thought the weakest part of the book was the ending, it wrapped up a little bit too concisely for my taste and I feel it would've been better left more open ended, maybe just ending after the trial. I also felt a lot of things that happened to Kya and things about her felt too unrealistic/whimsical/unbelievable... but it was a pretty and melancholy story that's definitely worth reading.

apparently I liked this one more since I finished it in an evening... it still annoyed me, but less