Review Detail

Was this book enjoyable? Yes. Was it also incredibly predictable? Yes. Did I call the plot twists from beginning to end? Yes. Will I still be reading the sequel? Yes.

Listen, this book reads like it was written by a romance author taking a stab at the fantasy genre for the first time, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means that it’s not the most incredible or exciting fantasy book I’ve ever read, so I’m not sure why everyone is losing their minds over this book. It’s a decent read, don’t get me wrong, but it’s pretty formulaic and reads like Eragon meets Divergent meets any contemporary romance novel with an enemies-to-lovers plot line.

It didn’t blow my mind the way it seems to have blown everyone else’s, so I’m not sure why it’s gotten all this hype. Especially when I literally predicted every single thing that was gonna happen in the book, which to me indicates that the author has not really made any efforts to surprise the reader at all. This doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, but when I’m reading a fantasy novel, I’d like to be surprised at least once and not just expect everything that’s gonna happen. I definitely felt like the author was coming from a romance background in that respect.

The best part of this book, imo, was Tairn, as I liked his characterization. I thought he was really funny. I did also like Xaden and I found his character to be one of the most well-rounded. Everyone else fell a little flat and like a cardboard cutout to me. I am interested to see what happens in the second book though.