This book absolutely blew me away. Given that Sarah J. Maas was Lynette Noni's writing partner and offered inspiration and feedback, I'm not surprised that I was captivated by this book from the very beginning. Noni manages to create an incredibly full world within the confines of a prison, and I was instantly attached to Kiva and Tipp. Tipp is sweet and earnest, everything good in the world, and Kiva is prickly, taciturn, but with the biggest capacity to love, despite everything she's seen. Jaren and Naari are incredibly intriguing additions, and the way the romance between Jaren and Kiva develops is tender and young, in a way that is exquisitely hopeful. I was holding my breath before every Trial to see how Kira would possibly survive it, and I couldn't wait to see how everything unfolded with the rebels and her family. This was the type of book where I wanted to ignore all my responsibilities and read - I was sneaking away at every available opportunity to read a few pages. I cannot wait for the next book to be available on my Libby app!!!

It's sort of funny how every fantasy romance series goes the same way. The main character almost always has secret parentage and magical powers, and at the end of the first book the main character discovers that the person she's in love with is not who they said they were. The formula is tried and true, and yet somehow I keep eating up books with them! And it was executed so masterfully here - it's really an exemplar of the genre.