I found the writing stilted and odd, example being dialogue written before even introducing the character speaking as in the room. A lot of scenes felt like they were written by someone who had difficulty actually envisioning the scene. Jimena was a fairly obnoxious person. Admittedly, she developed into someone relatively likeable by the later parts of the book, but sometimes her development seemed questionable, probably due to the rushed pacing. The other characters remained fairly flat, clearly meant to just bounce off this heroine that's not particularly strong to begin with. The ending seemed so abrupt. The romance was so awkward, seeming even disturbing at times, and the love triangle promised in the summary is not what is delivered. In fact, El Cid played a surprisingly small role in the whole thing. Would not recommend.