What I loved:
• How it opened (holy craaaaaap)
• How the two stories were linked, and how those links were revealed
• The magic
• The action
• The diversity as a fact of the world and not a plot point (though some of the representation could have been a bit stronger--for example, I heard this being talked about as a book with a bisexual leading character and it just seemed to lean bi-with-a-preference-for-opposite-gender)
• How relationships were formed and how/why they changed
• Females comfortable with their sexuality
• The main female characters weren't perfect or nice and didn't apologize for it
• They also didn't apologize for being so strong
• The romance/passion that was there did hit the mark
• How rich the world was
• That it felt...new. Fresh. Like the kind of storytelling that is a step in the right direction for fantasy readers AND writers.
• It was so engrossing I put all other things aside and finished it within a 24-hour period, then HAD to literally RUN it down the street to press it into the hands of a friend who was just as excited as I was to finally read it.

Rielle hid her magic as long as she could, but when one of her best friends is almost murdered, she is revealed. Then tested. Then is part of something that changes her world.

About a thousand years later, Eliana rolls her eyes at the stories of Rielle that her sweet little brother tells her. She's too busy trying to numb her disgust over being an assassin in order to keep her family alive to think about how much of the tales he retells are true.

In alternating chapters, we learn how Rielle moves from girl with a secret to Queen of fairy tales, Eliana's shift from assassin to participant in trying to uncover why women and girls are disappearing from the land, and how their stories are connected.

Surprising. Fast-paced. Passionate. This is an older YA for those who want a darker story.

(Teen, Dark Fantasy, Girls & Women, Family, Magic, Horror, Romance)