Brienne has never known her true lineage. Taken to the Magnalia House, a school where you master a passion, either art, music, dramatics, wit or knowledge, where she tries her hardest to fit in. Over the course of her time there, Brienne has gone through a few passions, none of them quite her talent. On the night she’s to graduate, she’s left without a patron to move forward. Instead, she’s thrust into this battle between the kingdoms, both Lords declaring Brienne as their daughter. Left to fight for what she believes is right, as the real queen is set to rise. This novel was good, it had a lot going for it, but it lacked a clear direction and originality. This felt like other fantasy novels all mixed together, it just didn’t feel original in content. Maybe for the year it came out it was more fresh, but years later it hasn’t held up as much. This also felt like it lacked where it wanted to go. One minute this was about a girl in school with a mysterious father, to a battle for the rightful queen and the reader felt like they had no idea how they got there. The world building didn’t feel built up enough; we only got a sense of how this world worked. The author did try to explain things, but it still felt a little confusing the concepts here. There was also this romance plot Ross was trying to push for and it really didn’t do anything for this reader. It was a student falling for teacher type vibe that felt out of place in the grand scheme of this story. Looking past that though, this was fast-paced and enjoyable enough to see where the story was going to go, even if it did feel overwhelming. The characters were good; the reader wished we had gotten more from them. They didn’t feel as developed as they could have been. We did like seeing the different dynamics that Brienne had with everyone and how her relationships felt like they kept evolving, which was good, but the reader felt like they had more questions than anything else. There is a sequel, that this reader is curious about reading, and we’re wondering if we’re going to get more background to these characters and a better sense of the world. In the end, this wasn’t a bad novel, the reader just expected more clarity in what was going on.