This book is super hard for me to rate, because while I loved it, I had one single complaint. And believe me, that complaint was rather large.
Blurb
Zahru is a lowly whisperer, destined to wallow in her small town for the rest of her life. When the Crossing is initiated, and a party is thrown at the palace, she can’t resist the chance to sneak in. Things turn rather quickly though, and Zahru ends up being the human sacrifice left for the heirs at the end of the Crossing. Caught in a feud between two of the heirs, Zahru decides she must escape.
To say I loved the premise of this is an understatement. The minute I started this book, I was immediately sucked in. The world building, the characters, the promise of a dangerous journey, everything was done so well. Of course, I’d started this at night, so I had to put it down, but I definitely didn’t want to! The plot in this moved consistently, and although it was fairly free of action, it kept me interested the entire time.
Another thing that was done excellently was the world building. We’re immediately drawn into a world with a strict caste system, with utter opulence at the top, and next to nothing at the bottom. Almost everyone is born with magic, but their type determines their caste and their station in life. As soon as you flip the first page, you’re drawn in Zahru’s struggle, of being confined to a path she doesn’t want, in a world meant to keep her down. The journey across the desert was written so vividly I could picture it, and the setting just felt so exotic compared to other fantasies.
Now, onto the topic of the characters. They take conflicted to a whole new level. Kasta, the brooding prince who has never been enough for his father, and needs to win the Crossing to finally prove himself. Jet, the prince who wants nothing more than to escape the world’s expectations and explore. And finally, Sakira, the party princess who is determined to become queen.
Every one of our characters was distinct, and I could emphasize with every single one of them. The one thing that really stood out about them to me was their motivations though. I hate books that blindly villainize a character, giving them the motivation of wanting power. There’s always something more, which is what Mae did so well. Her characters had realistic motivations, and although you could hate them, it was heartbreakingly apparent as to why they did something.
Now, as for my only real complaint. I absolutely hated the romance. It was insta love, illogical, and a love triangle. To make matters worse, it was a love triangle in between two brothers. Two tropes I hate combined into one, yippee! Zahru also changed her mind about which brother she liked more depending on which one was in her company, which got irritating after about the third time.
All that being said, I would definitely recommend this book! With a beautiful cover, I can’t wait to display this on my shelf, and I can’t wait to reread this dozens of times
Blurb
Zahru is a lowly whisperer, destined to wallow in her small town for the rest of her life. When the Crossing is initiated, and a party is thrown at the palace, she can’t resist the chance to sneak in. Things turn rather quickly though, and Zahru ends up being the human sacrifice left for the heirs at the end of the Crossing. Caught in a feud between two of the heirs, Zahru decides she must escape.
To say I loved the premise of this is an understatement. The minute I started this book, I was immediately sucked in. The world building, the characters, the promise of a dangerous journey, everything was done so well. Of course, I’d started this at night, so I had to put it down, but I definitely didn’t want to! The plot in this moved consistently, and although it was fairly free of action, it kept me interested the entire time.
Another thing that was done excellently was the world building. We’re immediately drawn into a world with a strict caste system, with utter opulence at the top, and next to nothing at the bottom. Almost everyone is born with magic, but their type determines their caste and their station in life. As soon as you flip the first page, you’re drawn in Zahru’s struggle, of being confined to a path she doesn’t want, in a world meant to keep her down. The journey across the desert was written so vividly I could picture it, and the setting just felt so exotic compared to other fantasies.
Now, onto the topic of the characters. They take conflicted to a whole new level. Kasta, the brooding prince who has never been enough for his father, and needs to win the Crossing to finally prove himself. Jet, the prince who wants nothing more than to escape the world’s expectations and explore. And finally, Sakira, the party princess who is determined to become queen.
Every one of our characters was distinct, and I could emphasize with every single one of them. The one thing that really stood out about them to me was their motivations though. I hate books that blindly villainize a character, giving them the motivation of wanting power. There’s always something more, which is what Mae did so well. Her characters had realistic motivations, and although you could hate them, it was heartbreakingly apparent as to why they did something.
Now, as for my only real complaint. I absolutely hated the romance. It was insta love, illogical, and a love triangle. To make matters worse, it was a love triangle in between two brothers. Two tropes I hate combined into one, yippee! Zahru also changed her mind about which brother she liked more depending on which one was in her company, which got irritating after about the third time.
All that being said, I would definitely recommend this book! With a beautiful cover, I can’t wait to display this on my shelf, and I can’t wait to reread this dozens of times