I finished this book five days ago and am just now starting the review, which is an unusually long delay for me. But I'm having a really hard time figuring out what to say about this book. It's really, really good - set in a world based on ancient Persia, featuring a cursed princess and fascinating demons and just enough magic to be tantilizing without giving it a high fantasy feel. It was highly engaging and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

What makes it hard to write a review is that the plot on the back cover wraps up about 40% into the book. It's a rare book that can put the major twist in before the halfway point and still make the story interesting, but this book pulls it off. And also makes it hard to review, because anything I say about the last 60% is going to be a spoiler. 

This is one of those books you could easily analyze for a paper for school or discuss in a literature class. It has Important Themes of family loyalty (what do you owe your family if everything they've done has made your life worse?) and humanity versus monsterhood, centering around a cursed princess who believes her poisonous touch makes her more monster than human. But if you don't feel like digging that deep into it, you don't have to. In a surface read, it's a perfectly entertaining fantasy story with likeable characters and surprising twists. 

Since it's so hard to talk about the story contained in this book without ruining the experience, I guess I'll just say this: Experience it for yourself. It's a great fairy tale, marvelously told, set in a richly imagined world of Persian royalty and demons who haunt the woods, resplendent with myths and monsters and unexpected surprises and featuring a protagonist who is as loveable as she is relatable. It's a very, very good book and needs to be experienced to understand just how good it is.