In Nirrim's world, there are three types of people: the High Kith, Middlings, and Half Kith. She's one of the latter, the lowest caste, who live within the walled Ward, are highly policed and often punished, and have no opportunities to better themselves. When she is thrown into prison for returning a lost pet, she meets Sid, who is unlike anyone she's known before. For one thing, Sid is a traveler from another land. Nirrim's island country hardly ever sees foreigners, and the residents have long believed that there are no other people beyond the sea. Sid makes Nirrim feel all sorts of feelings that she's never felt before with just a bit of flirtatious banter. Moreover, Sid has the ability to get Nirrim out of prison -- and might be the key to all kinds of adventure, if Nirrim is brave enough to take hold of it.

This book has a very promising start, setting up an interesting world with complicated systems of magic and social structure. Nirrim and Sid are both fascinating characters, and their adventures are enjoyable to read. There were a couple of times something happened and it didn't get the full weight it needed in the writing -- for instance, a character hits Nirrim in the head with a lit lantern, and it barely gets a beat right at that moment, though there's plenty of commentary on the scar it leaves later. I also saw almost all of the twists coming a long time before they were revealed. However, my biggest problem is the ending, which seemed very dark and abrupt to me. I realized after finishing this book that there is a sequel, which presumably will lead to a better resolution. I will probably read it, in order to get a better understanding of what happened there at the end. So, my recommendation is to think of this as the first half of the story, and have the second book on hand. ( )

Overall I enjoyed this book, but:
The prose was a little flowery which also made it hard to follow and understand
I thought the protagonist was rather dull and didn’t much care for her at all
Romance is too PG for me ( )

oof ( )

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

I really loved this book. I wasn't sure if I would to be honest. It's a slow-moving book but not at all boring. I found I breezed through this so fast. It's a beautiful story about a girl how finally stops just accepting everything for how it is and decides to find out why. The world described here is beautiful and magical while terrible at the same time. While I wouldn't consider it epic, the romance was different and refreshing. It ended on a serious cliffhanger so now I can't wait for book two.

Likes:
~Romance
~Amazing world building
~Greating writing style
~An intriguing plot

Dislikes:
~Was a bit too slow-moving
~Major cliffhanger ending ( )

Okay, the cover is bloody gorgeous, and the description is even better:

Set in the world of the New York Times–bestselling Winner’s Trilogy, beloved author Marie Rutkoski returns with an epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy.

BRING. IT. ON.