3.5 ⭐️

I just love the cover of this one. It’s so pretty, even though there’s actually a snake intertwined with the lovely flowers.

I may have chosen this one for the pretty cover, but I do like to read YA occasionally, and fantasy works for me every once in awhile, when it’s really well done. I typically enjoy retellings of myths and fairy tales, and this one is a revamp of a Persian story, the author's own culture, that also includes demons and a queer romance.

The flawed but compelling main character Soraya is twin sister to her 18-year-old brother, the shah, and despite the murderous curse that has hung over her all her life and kept her secluded (she is poison to the touch), she remains powerful and strong. Soraya shows lots of growth and development within the story, as she encounters a demon who can possibly help her and a boy who seems unafraid of her killing potential, and she must confront good and evil within herself—is she a princess or a monster? Could her ability to kill with just one touch actually be helpful, or only harmful?

I didn’t find this plot at all predictable and I loved Soraya's female allies and the Persian elements. Also, it’s relatively short and a standalone book, not part of a series, as so many fantasies tend to be.

All in all, pretty good! If you’re in the mood for a YA feminist fairy tale, this could be a fit.