Over all I enjoyed the book a lot. It got pretty dark at the end :/ The Spanish Inquisition was absolutely disturbing and I thought she did a good job of adding in history in a made up world. Luzia is a great leading character because she knows who she is and what she wants and goes for it. I thought Leigh did a great job having Luzia be stubborn but also know her place in society. She would have to back down to people in a higher status because that’s unfortunately her plot in life. This book is a perfect mix of fantasy and real life during 1478-1834. I think Bardugo had used some of her family history when writing this. I thought the romance was a little hard to see because it didn’t seem like they had a very close relationship but Luzia does say how can she fall in love within a couple of weeks. Luzia is still strong in what she wants so she doesn’t let anyone get in the way of that. I’m glad she didn’t swoon over SanAngel and make her choices based on him. All she wanted was to not be a servant to anyone and be her own person. I loved how you can really see each character for who they are and what they want. Her aunt was so frustrating to me and overall seemed to be her demise, which she got her Karma. It reminds me of an old fable of a king who wanted more in life than all he already had. I’m glad Valentina changed her way of life based on what Luzia had to go through. She was redeemed in my eyes and her husband deserved what he got.
Bardugo’s writing is just so beautiful and I can’t get enough of it. She isn’t afraid to write about uncomfortable history and I’m all for it. Let the world see its dark history. A lot of people who enjoyed her other books might not like this one because it’s includes real life situations. It’s slow paced and tells a story that wouldn’t be accepted to most readers. It’s also more of a story not a thrilling tale with twists in turns. I got annoyed reading reviews from the fans of romantasy books because they were bored because there’s wasn’t many page turning scenes. Anyways this is my quick review.