Okay I have very mixed feelings on this book. This wasn't written very well. There is a point where the author decides to progress the plot by having a character tell *and not show* the protagonist everything she needs to know to further the plot. It is not just a couple paragraphs either, it is pages and pages of being told what is happening. The protagonist herself I though was really annoying conveniently smart or stupid whenever she had to be. The ending was pretty lazy and all those trials were conveniently won which made it very boring to read through. And did anyone else feel like the beginning of this book was basically a rip off of The Hunger Games? Not to mention Romance just isn't my genre and this felt way more like a romance novel throughout large chunks of the book and really didn't focus on the fantasy elements a whole lot.

All that being said, I kept finding myself wanting to read it and can see why people would like it as a guilty pleasure sort of read. I think I will read the next one because I keep hearing it is better, but I don't have high hopes for this series.