This book is definitely not YA; there is mature adult content, even if minor. I was so disgusted that this book was labeled as YA, I inquired about it at my local bookstore who looked it up and told me it’s marked as “adult” by the publisher. Not sure what list StoryGraph and Goodreads are using for their labels.  Anyway, I enjoyed the world and characters but struggled with the sexual harassment and violence against women. It cheapened the plot and triggered me. 

It took me a while to get into this book, but I don't think it was entirely the book's fault, as I was pretty busy when I started reading it. Once I did get into it, I really enjoyed it. It's set in a world reminiscent of Tolkien (helpful giant eagles, anyone?) with a few things that struck me as Star Wars-esque

lightsabers and force chokes

, but the story and magic system are fairly unique. I found the last third or so hard to put down. Kristen Britain also, in my opinion, did a good job of leaving clues for some major reveals without making the book too predictable, at times I picked up on a clue, but wasn't sure right away if I was on the right track.

I also liked that one of the "elves" was the main bad guy, despite them having the positive/mystical healer reputation they often have in fantasy books. It was a more nuanced view than we typically get, in my opinion.

(One comment, though: Why didn't Jendara and Torne read the message? I would have even accepted a fairly weak explanation, like maybe Karigen hid it somewhere, and they never found it.

An interesting story, but the writing felt uneven. I’m told this improves over the next couple of books in this series so I’ll try the next one!