Reads like YA. Worldbuilding, characters and plot are all underdeveloped. 

This was a fast, engaging read. It was spicy and slightly dark. Parts made me annoyed but there was logic to it so at least it wasn't because of bad writing. The ending pissed me off though, grr. 

No Holly, you cannot leave us hanging like that!! Thankfully we just have to make it to August, but until then I will be suffering. 

This was such a good read!! It was fast paced and I was hooked from the beginning. I love when there is a good tension between the two main characters. Sprinkle in the fact they hate each other and I am one happy reader. And the relationship between Nyra and Dacre? It definitely delivers that and some spicy goodness. 

"𝓓𝓲𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓬𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓶𝓮 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮?” [...] 𝓗𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓮𝓭 𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓹𝓼 𝓪𝓰𝓪𝓲𝓷, 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓮𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓫𝓮 𝓪𝓫𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝔂 𝓭𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓾𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰. “𝓘𝓽’𝓼 𝓸𝓴𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓴 𝓘’𝓶 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮."

I would call this a dark, spicy romantasy with a little bit of dubcon.

Nyra is the "lost princess." She's escaped her palace home and the grasp of her cruel father, the King of Marmoris. While trying to plan her escape from the kingdom, she falls into the arms of the rebellion. She soon finds herself torn between two worlds and harbouring her secret identity when all she wants is her freedom. Dacre, the future leader of the rebellion, doesn't trust her; but he also can't resist the desire he feels for her.

This book won't be for everyone. There are questionable circumstances. I feel like if you don't love Dacre... you'll hate him, and the book is centred around lust rather than love (but I can't wait to see how this develops). I personally really enjoyed it. 

Sometimes, I do find that the end of one chapter takes quite a big jump to the next scene, but there are honestly no dull moments.

Is this book complex with intricate magic systems, detailed world-building, and strong plot lines? No. 

Is this book extremely fast-paced and easy to read with short chapters and steamy tension? Yes. 

I flew through this book, and I'm looking forward to how this series develops!  I would categorize this as a "guilty pleasure" type book.

Also: I'm not ready to talk about that ending.

Enjoyed this fast paced fantasy read — I read it in one sitting.
There are a lot of secrets and heated moments, longing, pining, bullying; I'm not sure if it could be considered romance, but it's definitely lust-filled.

The smut was really well done, and was easily the best thing about this whole book. Which I guess is fortunate considering there wasn't really any plot otherwise. I kept wishing there was more plot, but there wasn't. Seemed like such an interesting concept and then it was like… nothing? Just whispers. 

The ending was a mood killer, but also left me wanting more, so I guess it did it's job. It felt like it undid a bunch of stuff that happened in the rest of the book, and it broke my heart. I’m hoping we get answers to that in the next book, but it was such a shock that I briefly considered never reading this author again. 

Looking forward to the next in the series, hoping for a bit more plot but will likely devour it anyway, especially if the spice is as good. Overall, it had good vibes. 4/5

The story line is pretty good and I can’t wait to see how it continues into the second book especially the way it leaves you hanging. Some of the spicy scenes were not my fav but other than that I really enjoyed this book. It’s a super fast and easy read.

Holly Renee what have you done to me? When I tell you my jaw DROPPED at that ending and it’s still down there somewhere 😭😳

Holly Renee absolutely slayed with this book and I can just imagine what the second one will do to me😭😭. All you need to know is she is a hidden princess in a rebellion that wants her dead and he is basically the leader of said rebellion 👀

Tropes:
⚔️Enemies to lovers
⚔️One bed
⚔️Forbidden romance
⚔️“Who did this to you”
⚔️2.5🌶️

The chemistry was SIZZLING and the mouth on Dacre was dirty to say the least 🥵🥵. He was possessive and jealous but I LOVE HIM YOUR HONOR🤭It was a fast paced book that had me 😳🤯😭🥵 from start to finish. The banter and the tension was all there, and Nyra’s situation had me on the edge of my seat the entire book.

The last 10 pages?!? The CLIFFHANGER?!? I am unwell and need 10 business days to recover at the minimum. The ending is literally playing like a loop in my head. 

Also can we talk about the cover?? ✨STUNNING✨. How am I supposed to wait until the end of July for the second book!?!

I did not like Dacre at all. I found him very disrespectful to Nyra and not in a fun way. 

This kind of sucked slightly. The writing was a bit jumpy and kept skipping around.
The scenes ended when I felt like some could've gone on for a wee bit longer since we barely got much interaction between the FMC & MMC before everything went all touchy. I feel like the chemistry between them is too rushed and they never actually have many meaningful conversations. 

Dacre is a jerk. He is a jealous little thing and it's quite sad at times. Its cute that he's jealous of the fmc's friend but come on man. He's very pushy and it feels like a lot of the consent given by her was unsure

I'll give this a one-star rating because I think the concept of a hidden city is interesting and with more development, this book could have been good. The sex scenes honestly felt like there was a lot of dubious consent and then the final scene includes

revenge sex that the FMC isn't aware is revenge sex

which is tbh super

rape-y and IMO would read this as sexual assault, personally

and I felt like it needed a trigger warning. I didn't like the MMC or the FMC or their relationship and was just generally disappointed considering how 3 separate booktokers raved about it. Also there was like zero reason for them to be

fae

like they could have just been

humans with powers

and it honestly would have been the same book. Also for a fantasy book, she's wearing a

literal crop top at one point

and it threw me out of the entire book entirely.