Reviews

This book was gifted to me for a Secret Santa gift exchange. I don’t know if I would have picked this up otherwise, but I am so glad this came across my bookshelf! I had so much fun diving into the world, learning its lore, and growing with the characters. Our MC went through a lot of emotional, mental, and spiritual growth, and the pacing of it was just right.

I love how this book not only took me to a fantasy world, but also provided me with more knowledge on other cultural practices outside of my own. This made my world bigger and I am grateful for that.

bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

pixiepages's review against another edition

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4.0

I have a love-hate relationship with fantasy. This one was shockingly good. Katyani, has a magical bond with the queen and is a royal guard of Chandela. With so many assassination attempts on the queen and king, they send Katyani away to go help and protect the prince. I will say I did like that the world building didn’t take over the whole book. There wasn't much character development which is the only thing I didn’t like.

seneschals's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

“I know you have your duty, and I have mine,” she continued, trying to keep her voice steady. “But that doesn't mean we can't be together, does it?”

♯

i assumed this would be a full on fantasy, but i was pleasantly surprised by the amount romance. katyani and her daksh were giving i'd destroy the world for you & you've ruined me for everyone else energy and i was OBSESSED WITH IT!

while i appreciated the fast pace and how entertaining this was, the emotions the narrative aimed to evoke would have benefitted more from an additional book.

midway, i was thinking: this would have worked so well as a series! there were so many twists and turns and i liked (actually, that hurt) how the author wasn't scared to kill off her characters.

bookswithbit's review against another edition

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4.0

Fantastic. The world was a bit confusing as we didn't get much explanation for the magic system. It was spiritual magic which was interesting! Every once in a while the MC would say something that sort of took me out of the time its set in and reminded me that it's a book - for example, she would use the word "crush" to refer to the guy she liked, which felt too modern for the setting. But otherwise, a really beautiful and rich story about both revenge and redemption.

rntylr22's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5
I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had the concentration / brain power for it. Theres a lot of politics and intrigue--which I normally love. The story was still fast paced and I loved the characters. I think Im going to re-read it at a later time and see, but Id anticipate Id give this a 4+ star rating if I was more in the mood for a book like this

typedtruths's review

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

⚠️ i desperately wish i could rave about this book but it falls under the st martin's press boycott. see @readersforaccountability on ig for more info ⚠️

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