💎💎💎💎
This YA fantasy novel tackles a lot of big subjects at once: war, loyalty, redemption, nature vs. nurture. The story focuses on a healer with high EQ (whom I loved for her relatability) who gets thrown into a political nightmare landscape where her EQ is not prized and the leaders are preoccupied with being vindictive. The challenging love story that emerges is really well done in its complexity.
I could tell that this is a debut novel: the front end tackles a lot (too much?) at once, the story emerges as a potential series but then wraps together, and the characters’ relationships have repetition in specific language rather than showing a variety of verbiage and angles to build the full picture. But the writing is excellent, the ideas are tackled well despite their breadth, and the characters are remarkably dimensional. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy novels, and I’ll especially recommend it to folks who have finished the Throne of Glass series.
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