Overall, I enjoyed this! I thought it set a great foundation for the rest of the series (5 books total, I think?), though I did read the epilogue and now have many regrets about my life choices. But alas, I can’t not read a book through to the finish when an epilogue is all that is left. But… Read the author’s note and warning before diving into the epilogue because there will be many years until there’s resolution to the full story.

(Brb, gonna stare off into the distance for a while, because I could have had a happy ending and chose to ignore it.)

I do think I’m starting to burn out on the classic romantasy storytelling, and this is 100% a me thing. I think the author balanced the fantasy world/plot well with the romance elements, though at times I got a bit bored/tired of the rather saccharine declarations of love and, well, emphasis on love being the savior to all things. I don’t necessarily completely disagree, but at times it was rather heavy handed within the walls of this story and I found myself rushing through some of these scenes just to get past them.

Wren developed a lot as a character throughout the story, though there were several times she drove me a bit batty. However, these things as well as some other plot points were usually explained or resolved within a few chapters, which I did appreciate quite a bit. Obviously, I want a flawed character, but I do like it when growth happens and others step in to help temper impulsivity and so forth. 

There were a few situations in which the classic “I dabbled in ‘xyz’ sport and am now an expert at it, even if I haven’t touched it for years” came into play, but whatever…. I’ll support the good guys winning while they can. 

All in all, a great read. I think the author’s plan for the series is clever, and I look forward to learning about the rest of the thrones.