Ughhhh. I’m literally crying eyes out. I don’t know what does author want from me but all she got is tears. I cannot take this pain. I’m in right now. I think this other actually hates me. Because there is no way she wrote that book not to cry my eyes out. This book was actually everything. The betrayal I felt from this book is the worst thing I have ever felt. I love Kai so much so so so so much. And the end actually makes me wanna die. oh my God. Kai Did it ? why why why? This is actually breaking my heart. This is another level of pain. I literally have went through so many tissues. And I know Kai and Kurt is mad because she killed her father, but she had a great reason and just to find out kai killed her father? This was some next level bullshit writing crap. I honestly don’t know what to say about this book. Because it was so well written that I don’t know how to feel. And if this book put me in a swamp, I’m gonna cry. I literally couldn’t breathe from how hard I was. The ending was the worst part kitt doesn’t know how much KAI loves her. And Kai doesn’t know how much kitt told her and I actually just wanna crawl into a hole and never come out. But pae and Kai were honestly one of the best romantic people I have ever met in my entire life of reading. the way this man felt for her and cared for her is like no other. And the fact they never kissed. And the fact he doesn’t know he killed her father. Ughh I’m going to cry again goodbye. 4.8/5⭐️’s. ( )

I really enjoyed this book so much. It was witty and fun, flirty and dramatic. I won’t give away any spoilers, but I was so shocked by the ending and can’t wait for the next one to come out so we can continue the saga of the spicy tango that is the life of these characters. Very rich character development and emotional attachment was achieved with me for sure! Looking forward to the next book! The first 5 star book review of the year that I haven’t t read before. ( )

2.0⭐

So this was a very obvious mix of the Hunger Games and the Throne of Glass with few original ideas, although even those might have been taken from somewhere else. Maybe I have just not read the inspiration yet.

The tournament was uninspired, the trials boring, and I never really felt that our MC was in actual danger. It went so far in taking inspiration from Hunger Games that even in a historical setting we have magical recording and replaying of the trials. Not to mention that besides getting our characters together, what was the actual point of the tournament?

The setting and lore are again very lackluster. Just a bare minimum necessary for the story. Deadly desert right next to the city? The kingdom is so well described that I only know there is a palace and an alley where the poor people live and that those two places are somewhat far away from each other? The magic system was somewhat original, though. I just wish there was a bit more done with it.

The romance line was ok I suppose. It didn't make me feel much, but it also didn't make me annoyed much.

I was actually thinking of DNFing this a few times, especially every time something stupid happened.

The ending did make the book slightly more interesting to me. I didn't expect it would go that way. I might even be slightly interested in the sequel. ( )

This book was one where I thought about it constantly when I wasn’t reading it! I really enjoyed it, I liked that it kind of gave hunger games/Harry Potter vibes. I want a Kai… ( )

Representation: N/A?
Trigger warnings: Blood depiction, physical injury, assault and murder of a person, near-death experience
Score: Seven points out of ten.
This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.

First, whoa. The next book is next year? It better be as good as the first. With that out of the way, the library I got this from purchased it a few months back, and afterwards, I finally got my hands on it. When I finished it, I thought it was impressive for a debut author, because it's rare for authors to impress me on the first try. This author did. This novel feels like Red Queen and even Graceling, and it's clear that some elements felt like The Hunger Games (which didn't matter or dampen my enjoyment anyway.) It starts with the main character Paedyn Gray (or Paedyn for short), but here's the catch: she's Ordinary, ever since the Plague hit which gifted some (now called the Elite) with powers, while killing others. When I think about it it's strange and it's not clear where the Plague first started; maybe the second instalment can explain. Only after a few pages, Paedyn is called to participate in the 6th trials while forming an attraction with Prince Kai (Are they meant for each other? It's not clear, but they got along well.) The second half spoke for itself (it's so good I have no words to describe it.) Other than the fact that Paedyn won the trials and started a revolution. And a cliffhanger. I'm speechless. ( )