I really wanted to love this book. However, I honestly found it boring in the beginning. If I hadn’t heard so many people liked it I would have likely given it up. The plot moved slowly as the world where Camellia lived was described in minute detail. Normally, I love when an author puts a lot of effort into describing the setting but the specifics put into the palace surroundings, what people were wearing, and the beauty treatments completed by Camellia did not hold my interest. I understand that those details are important to the character because that’s what she was raised to care most about and it is portraying the dysfunction of Camellia’s society but it lost me. Eventually, the plot moved away from the specifics of changing a person’s looks and focused more on the actual issues of the society and the Court politics in particular.
As Camellia came to care more about things beyond the superficial I started to relate to her more and found her character more interesting. The problem was, I didn’t really like her all that much until nearly the end of the book. The end is really what saved it for me. The amount of action picked up and I found myself finally sucked into the story itself. It kept me guessing and left me wanting to read more. Now, I’m anticipating the next book in this series as I think that Camellia will be a more interesting character to read about.
As Camellia came to care more about things beyond the superficial I started to relate to her more and found her character more interesting. The problem was, I didn’t really like her all that much until nearly the end of the book. The end is really what saved it for me. The amount of action picked up and I found myself finally sucked into the story itself. It kept me guessing and left me wanting to read more. Now, I’m anticipating the next book in this series as I think that Camellia will be a more interesting character to read about.