It reads very YA but with spice. Predictable. I easily picked up in key plot points and where we were going with the story. Dialogue was juvenile at times. I didn’t love it but I liked it enough to try book 2 hoping it steps up more. 

I liked that the FMC is rough around the edges from having grown up in a prison. It’s a great contrast next to all the overly refined Fae. She frequently succumbs to anger which finds release via words or brawling. Her prisoner status makes her starved for any modicum of kindness and her naivety makes her easy prey for manipulation. I did tire of her constantly getting lost in thought or a moment then getting startled out of it.  

Heavy on descriptions of everyone’s hair style, eye color, what they’re wearing, what the food looks like, how it tastes, place settings at tables, rooms, how beautiful the Sun King is—it was excessive. And it happened every time a scene changed making it feel like padding for a longer book. Thankfully it lessens as the contestants drop off but it made for some boring passages to force through. 

Wasn’t a fan of the pages of inner monologue in the midst of a conversation. There were wonderful and moving observations about classism and survival but it sometimes went on too long in the moment hijacking momentum giving the story a lurching pace. Overall I found it somewhat choppy. But, again, it was still fun to read and I’m moving in to book 2.