“And then I came to a place where the mountain stopped. Where there was nowhere else to go.
I had reached the summit of Raksha.”

Synopsis
Kamzin has always wanted to be a great explorer, and she has everything she needs to become one...except the opportunity to leave her village on an expedition. That is, until the mysterious River Shara, Royal Explorer, arrives in her village with one purpose: to find a guide to Raksha, the tallest mountain in the world. And only two people in the world know the way: Kamzin and her sister, Lusha.

Prose, Voice & Dialogue
I thoroughly enjoyed Fawcett's writing. The prose was relatively straight-forward most of the time--not super flowery or lyrical, but it could be at times. I couldn't find the quote that incorporated the title, but it was my favorite quote from the book and it was absolutely beautiful. Kamzin's voice didn't feel super strong or distinct, so I do wish that we got a little bit more of her personality through the prose and dialogue.

Characters
I liked Kamzin's character a lot, and although I love a magical female protagonist, I loved that she was useless at magic. It was kind of refreshing, honestly. I know that not everyone enjoyed Kamzin's character, but I liked her stubbornness and competitiveness, her knack for climbing and how she is no good at the thing she is destined to become (village Shaman). The sibling rivalry between Kamzin and Lusha added extra layers of complexity and tension that I loved. River was my favorite character, though Ragtooth was a close second. I loved Norbu as well. Though we started out the expedition with quite a few characters, we got to know all of them pretty well.

Plot & Pacing
It did take me quite a while to finish this book, and though there were also many other contributing factors (aka life getting in the way of me reading 24/7), part of the reason it took me so long is because there were quite a few dry-spells in the book where not a lot was happening. However, for me personally, the super-high-intensity scenes that were scattered throughout the novel made up for that. My one complaint about the plot/pacing was that I wish we had spent more time on Raksha. I was really looking forward to that aspect of the book, and we spent far more time getting to Raksha than we did actually on the mountain. Logistically speaking, this makes sense. It doesn't actually take all that long to climb a mountain. But I wish that Fawcett had found more ways to extend their stay, more conflicts that would have delayed their ascent. There were quite a few of these already, but I just loved that aspect of the book so much that I wish there would have been even more time spent on Raksha. I also wish we had gotten there a little sooner, because that was part of the reason that it took me longer to finish it. I found myself a little bored of what happened before they reached Raksha, aside from the actual action scenes. The twist at the end blew my mind! I definitely was not expecting that, and the last 25% or so of the book was very intense and I blew through it very quickly. I enjoyed the pacing of the story, and felt that the slower parts were well-balanced.

The Romance
I really liked the rivalry-romance between Kamzin and River. I'm a huge fan of enemies-to-lovers, but rivals-to-lovers is a good one, too. And lovers-to-enemies is almost better than enemies-to-lovers. There was a little bit of a love triangle, and I don't typically enjoy love triangles anymore, but this one was relatively subtle, and it didn't overtake the entire plot of the book. I loved Kamzin and River together, and I think they challenged each other and pushed each other in ways that helped both of them grow.

Setting
A fantasy world based on the Himalayas??? Are you KIDDING me?! It was perfect. The setting is hands-down my favorite thing about the book. It was so unique and I want to read a hundred more books in a similar setting. I love the idea of reading a book based on the early climbers of Everest, which is why I wanted to spend more time on Raksha than we did. The world-building was excellent, not just on Raksha itself, but the whole Empire. I was totally immersed in this world and invested in what was going on in it.

Overall Thoughts & Recommendation
Okay, I'm going to start this review by saying that most of the stars I gave out were because of the setting and concept. And that is not to say that there is nothing else enjoyable about this book, or that it was bad in other ways. I really enjoyed the story, and I'm looking forward to starting book two ASAP.

Trigger/Content Warnings
Some violence, sudden/unexpected death, dead bodies, grief