Warning - this is a romance. :D
Elves and humans get partnered and the partnership between the MC Tari and her Human partner Arion is special.
A nice idea is that elves and humans really have a communication problem. That is a very nice story hook.
What it makes enjoyable is how the author brings over the world to us. She just tells what is happening and we don't get a big "here it how it is and what happened in history" lesson. Instead the world is discovered slowly and questions the reader has are answered later during the story.
( )

This is a fluff book, and that’s not a bad thing. Entirely character driven story - almost Jane Austen in that respect. I enjoyed that aspect. Perfectly appropriate for all ages, but doesn’t really have any deep themes. Others have mentioned that it feels like fanfic, and that held true for me. ( )

What was good about this book:

- The sequels. I want more of those. This book was (by comparison) a disappointment. If I had read this first, I doubt I would have read the sequels.
- The author's take on elves is kind of interesting; in this world (a bit like Tolkien) the High Elves, the ones with the most powerful magic, have left; but (unlike Tolkien) they might come back, and that would be a bad thing for the the current inhabitants of the world because they weren't exactly nice. The remaining elves have sworn (in contrast to those violent High Elves) that they will never again fight--except if the High Elves come back, then they will fight them. A special order of Lesser Elves takes this preparation on themselves, while the remainder are devoted to entirely peaceful pursuits. This makes for some interesting politics with the humans (who, let's be honest, are never going to stop fighting).
- Some of the minor characters (e.g., Seer Ringali, and the three captains) are pretty interesting.
- There are a few rather funny scenes (again, more in the sequels).

What was not so good:
- Love stories where the tension is mostly a misunderstanding due to poor communication are not my favorite.
- I like heroes who can do more than grunt. Well, this one can, but only if pushed very hard (hence the communication problem).
- The heroine is more interesting, but only a little more. (The sequels have *far* more interesting heroines.)
- What's this binding ceremony thing? That took too much suspension of disbelief. (Fortunately, it doesn't matter much for the sequels.)

You should read the sequels. You can skip this book if you want; in fact, I'd recommend that. I did read the sequels first. This book fills in a bit of background (so maybe you want to come back to it later), but the sequels are easily understandable on their own. ( )

The best thing about this book is the sequels. If I had read this one first, I would never have bothered with the others.

What was good about this book:

- The author's take on elves is kind of interesting; in this world (a bit like Tolkien) the High Elves, the ones with the most powerful magic, have left; but (unlike Tolkien) they might come back, and that would be a bad thing for the the current inhabitants of the world because they weren't exactly nice. The remaining elves have sworn (in contrast to those violent High Elves) that they will never again fight--except if the High Elves come back, then they will fight them. A special order of Lesser Elves takes this preparation on themselves, while the remainder are devoted to entirely peaceful pursuits. This makes for some interesting politics with the humans (who, let's be honest, are never going to stop fighting).
- Some of the minor characters (e.g., Seer Ringali, and the three captains) are pretty interesting.
- There are a few rather funny scenes (again, more in the sequels).

What was not so good:
- Love stories where the tension is mostly a misunderstanding due to poor communication are not my favorite.
- I like heroes who can do more than grunt. Well, this one can, but only if pushed very hard (hence the communication problem).
- The heroine is more interesting, but only a little more. (The sequels have *far* more interesting heroines.)
- What's this binding ceremony thing? That took too much suspension of disbelief. (Fortunately, it doesn't matter much for the sequels.)

You should read the sequels. You can skip this book if you want; in fact, I'd recommend that. I did read the sequels first. This book fills in a bit of background (so maybe you want to come back to it later), but the sequels are easily understandable on their own. ( )

for some reason I could't get into it. I couldn't get interested in the characters enough. But I wanted to like it:( ( )