i started this after reading the priory of the orange tree by this author and really enjoying it, however, this was not my cup of tea and i gave up once i saw that writing on the wall. 

it's one of those books that really needs you to do a lot of listening to the worldbuilding, and not always in a fun way, so it took me ages to get through the first couple of chapters, because it just wasn't grabbing me. but then it started to! 

annnnnnd then i saw the writing on the wall of how the central romance and dynamic was about to go down, like, right away as soon as the main girl is basically... kinda? sold into a sort of slavery/subervience role to this powerful dude. and i was like... yeah... nah, i'm good. i don't need to read another hetero romance that tries to make a fucked up dyanmic interesting or romantic. that's... been done to death and i'm simply too over hetero romances to give a shit. (i fully admit that if this had been two women, i might have stuck around, because inevitibly, that one fact inherently changes the power dynamics in a way that you can make something interesting/or different about it if you wanted to. but... this probably isn't gonna be that). at this point in my life, if you want me to read somethingt that's not queer anymore, then it's gotta be worth my while. and this is just not my bag. maybe it is for you! i'm not judging at all, i love me a fucked up dynamic in fiction if it's got something interesting to say/explore, but this one isn't for me. 

i enjoyed her priory book though! so i'm not saying this author sucks or anything of the like, i'll be keeping an eye out if she ever gives that a sequel or writes something other than this series, but this one ain't for me.