Far better than I anticipated. While the book does have the classic enemies to lovers and “infiltrate an enemy kingdom in order to bring it down” tropes, the politics were very accessible. The twists and turns were enough to leave me guessing and wanting to know more. I can’t wait to read the sequel! 

The premise of this book centers around political intrigue told in multiple POV.

While I'm not a big fan of multiple POV, especially when it's more than two, I did enjoy this book.

I was very conflicted about this book. I loved the political intrigue and following the separate yet connected plots. However I felt the whole thing fell flat and a lot of it was just forgettable.
The ending does leave on such a cliffhanger that will definitely have me coming back for more.

Also another issue I had was with the ebook where the names to distinguish whose POV we were in got mixed up at about half way and kept being wrong throughout. I was alternating with the audiobook and it was just making it confusing with no chapter numbers and then getting mixed up. There were also a few moments where a name was wrong in the text. Stuff like that doesn’t normally bug me but it kept occurring so it got annoying.

Overall it was a fun series and was entertaining enough, I’m looking forward to the other books to see where the books go. But this one didn’t fully connect for me.

me, talking about margaraux: 
"'i could fix her' yeah? well i could accept her as she is. you don't like the murder? grow up. the atrocities are part of her and ive decided they're funny"

This book is a perfect example of how you can love something and still be critical of it. I thought the writing was beautiful, the characters were fleshed out so well, and the interweaving POVs and plotlines kept it interesting. I appreciated how it tried to dismantle patriarchal norms in putting all the focus on the women and girls in this book, basically painting the men as helpless. It was a nice change of pace! 

However, I would be remiss to not mention the glaring lack of diversity in this book. Every single character was either obviously white or described in vague terms, such as "dark-haired" or "tan." We should expect more from our fantasy books. I find it incredibly lazy when authors who are creating a whole new world where they make up the rules choose to create one in which there is zero diversity. So you're telling me that you were able to create different customs, languages, countries, but didn't think anyone in that world could be anything other than white or straight? We get one LGBTQIA+ character in the book (Pasquale), but then he's not allowed to flesh out that part of his identity, explore, live in that happiness. 

Another gripe I had with the book is the author's use of virginity. The three MCs are literally born to deceive and take over other kingdoms; that is their purpose. And yet we, as readers, are supposed to believe that not one of them consummated their marriage? I understand that this book is YA and I am not recommending that we include sex scenes or that they even need to be mentioned - but actively mentioning virginity and how none of the marriages were consummated MULTIPLE TIMES makes it clear that teenage sex was very much on the author's mind and she chose to villainize it rather than use this as a learning opportunity. 

All in all, I really enjoyed the fantasy world built, the strength of the characters, the twists and turns (that ending!), but I do wish more was done to make this a well-rounded book. 

Honestly, the book is pretty generic YA, but the DRAMA of it all was exquisite. Every chapter I was waiting to see who would betray our protagonists next. I also really appreciated how well-conceived the romantic relationships were. Each one was treated with respect, but did not fall into the YA trap of Instant True Love That Lasts Forever. The relationships ebbed and flowed like real ones, especially ones between teenagers. I really liked this book a lot more than I expected to, and I am so ready for the sequel to come out so we can find out what happens after that bombshell of an ending.