3 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yet here was I, an ordinary girl whose life was all fear, flight and concealment. What had possessed me to stand up and accept a challenge I surely could not meet? The battle I had agreed to fight was for Alban’s freedom.

It physically hurts to give a Juliet Marillier book a 3-star rating, but I could not connect with the heroine.

With the heroine being the chosen one to fight for her Alban's freedom, I was expecting a journey of hardships and hope to unfold, while that was the essence of it yet it felt... monotone.

Neryn had been through so much at 15 years old but it did seem like she had a "damsel-in-distress" and "woe is me" streak to her.

Since this takes place in medieval times, keep in mind there is sort of an age gap love story (no graphic or on page intimate action) between a 15-year-old girl and a man in his early 20s.

This is the first installment in a duology or a trilogy I believe, so the story will continue.

Trigger warning: inappropriate age gap relationship, sexual assault of a minor (just fondling parts of her body), graphic violence, grief, death.