Gods, it's finally over! Well, that was terrible, honestly, some really fucked up intersection of Hunger Games, Selection & ACOTAR. I struggled incredibly hard by the time it ended, oh my goodness.

Lor wasn't that terrible, by the way, although one would think that prison years would make a person distrustful, weak and maybe a little unpredictable, both mentally and physically, but not her. That would be fine, but the fact that she was so terribly naïve (after all of that!) is not. She keeps saying she doesn't need anyone, etc., but she's still helping others — which no sane person would do. I can't figure her out — and I honestly don't want to — but I liked that she had an animalistic rage and a willingness to act. Either way, this martyr role went terribly wrong for her. Atlas, I knew — I felt — that we were going to get another Tamlin, even with a not-so-big change lol. A red flag for everyone, another toxic alpha male that no one needs. When it comes to Nadir, I can't decide what the hell he's doing or who he's having what relationship with, to be honest. He has a goal — an infinitely vague and unnecessary goal — that he pursues like a hound, but I cannot figure out why he does it, and I honestly don't care why he (and everyone else) needs Lor so much. Of the other characters, Gabriel was surprisingly quite tolerable with his duality, but I didn't like him either. Maybe it was Halo who grew a bit close to my heart. 

The love story (can I even call it that?) was just so out of the blue that I shook my head. There was no chemistry between them, as if we were trying to put a stone and ice together — there are similarities, but not much. (And by the way, it seems okay to spread your legs the very first time after being raped and abused repeatedly for years at the first opportunity???? What the hell was that??? Who writes such a thing??)

The plot was horribly messed up. No beginning or end, everything was so tuggy and still too fast (a bit counterproductive, but I can't say it any better) all at once. The author should have spent a lot more time and energy building the world (I never thought I'd say that, lol) and leaving eroticism in the background for once in a lifetime. Otherwise, the pace was quite good - not the best, but still not so bad. The wording was fine, although I read it on my mother tongue, so I can't add much. And the end; What was that? I felt the author tried – unsuccessfully – to add a Rhysand rescue expedition (why I don't know) so that if it had fairies, it wouldn't miss the ACOTAR reference. It made no sense or any use. 

Overall, there are no gods that would make me volunteer to continue this series, that was more than enough (maybe even a lot) for a lifetime.

PS: that map was terrible. 

This book starts out really strong! Lor the FMC is imprisoned with her siblings and is known for getting into trouble. She is smart and funny and indomitable. And she loves Tristan and Willow, her two older siblings.

When she is the human tribute selected to participate in the sun queen trials, every move she makes is to protect them.  Trials test physical strength but also reveal Lor’s character. 

We also get POV chapters from Nadir, the prince of Aurora, which is the territory that held Lor as prisoner for half of her life. 

Th pacing is quite good and the writing is often sharply funny. Some plot points are quite predictable but it is fun getting there all the same. I saw the book described as ACOTAR meets The Hunger Games and that seems pretty spot on. 

The secondary characters are fairly flat, with the exception of Gabriel, around whom there is a bit of mystery.

There is a slow burn love interest and some spice. I’d give it two chili peppers. 🌶️🌶️

There is a fair amount of diverse representation with almost every character having some shade of brown skin and many secondary characters in queer relationships or flings. Lor and Nadir are both brown-skinned with dark wavy hair.

Overall it is a fast, fun read that sets up events for the next book (which is less predictable imo). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🌶️🌶️

This has a Hunger Games meets magic, Fae, and royalty feel to it. It was hard to get into at first but it got interesting after about halfway through.

Throne of Glass meets The Bachelor. It was fun! Go into the book expecting to have a fun time- the book is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I loved binging it so that’s why I gave it 4/5. It’s perfect brain rot.

The world was interesting, but not overly complex. Lor is stuck in what is essentially a concentration camp for the Aurora kingdom. She’s thrown into a pit (sort of like solitary confinement) after a brawl over a bar of soap. She’s stolen from the pit only to be thrown into the Sun King’s contest to be the next Sun Queen. Lor must compete against 9 other “tributes.” The problem is that they’re all elite Fae with training while Lor is a lowly human. Meanwhile, Nadir (the Aurora Prince) is looking for the mysterious prisoner that escape from the pit. 

Lor’s development was interesting because despite learning bits about her throughout the book we still have no idea who she really is (though she’s probably who we all predict). Gabriel was a brute and a jerk yet somehow likable? Nadir was the typical brooding prince. I can’t wait to see more of him in the second book. 

My biggest complaint would be the way the dual POV is written. I like dual POV but first person in present tense to third person omniscient in past tense was too much.

I tore through this book so fast. It's like if Hunger Games, Divergent, and ACOTAR all had a baby and put it into one book. Though this book is a simple read and I did see quite a few things coming, I couldn't put it down because I just wanted to know I was right every step of the way. Lor is a great main character with her temper, her lack of self control after growing up in a prison, and even her conflicting feelings we see first hand. I loved also reading the small moments of Nadir and knew he would have a much bigger role coming up for future books.

As far as the performance and narrations, the FMC was great with differentiating characters, I was a bit put off with how whiny Lor was and I don’t know if that is her character or the narrators choice. I hope we get more of the MC narrator in book 2. 

This was a fun read, action packed, the bachelorette meets the hunger games. 

10/10 plot twists