Continuous action, with enough twists to keep you in anticipation. The rotating POVs are well balanced and display unique perspectives.

However, pivotal moments in the story relied on the vague-wisdom-from-old-characters trope, resulting in dissatisfaction for the character and reader. Enemy soldiers separating protagonists from mysterious, old mentor figure. Wise, prescient figures answering questions with questions because "The answer is inside you, Little One."* Yeah, could we just get a straight answer and skip the forced introspection?

Not that there was a terrible amount of introspection going on anyway. Of the three main characters - Princesses Lu and Min, shifter boy Nok - only the second princess seemed to develop as a character. The main trio and supporting characters often felt more like they were fulfilling scripted roles rather than acting as personalities.

* Not an actual quote. ( )

DNF at 25%

I struggled with this book for months, reading a few pages at a time, but it just never held my attention enough.