2025 is the year I finally make myself start actually writing reviews for the books I read, so here’s the first one. 
Honestly, I’m not a huge fantasy reader and although I enjoyed urban fantasy as a teen, I haven’t been super into it as an adult, so I fully expected to have to force myself to get through this book. It did start out in the middle of a high stakes action scene, and I was kind of lost at first without explanation for what was happening or how the world worked. By a few chapters in though, more things were revealed and I started getting an understanding of the world building. At that point, I was hooked. Rune, the MC, was realistic (for a fantasy character) and reading from his perspective never felt too ridiculous. He balanced having powers and being the heir to the Sun throne with the wit, loyalty to those close to him, and genuine skill that he developed from years of training to make him likeable as a character. I also did not expect the romance to be with who it ended up as, but it was well written and developed nicely throughout the story without feeling rushed or unrealistic. I normally struggle to get invested in journey/adventure arcs and battle scenes but here I was super into it the entire book. After finishing, I immediately went to order the next two books and though I typically find it hard to continue with series right away, I will definitely be making my way through the next books soon this year and awaiting the fourth book coming out early next year. I could really have not asked for a better book to set the tone for how my 2025 reading year will go (hopefully lots more as good as this one)!