I'm a sucker for any sort of story that follows a protagonist who loves animals and this is no exception.

You've likely read books following horse-lovers or dragon-lovers but the creatures in this story are in a category all their own. I really enjoyed learning all the details about the two main creatures (Toda and Royal Beasts) because they were utterly foreign concepts to me. I mean, the Royal Beasts remind me of a wolf/owl hybrid, and that's not something I'd ever thought I would read about. (p.s. watching clips from the anime helped me picture them)

I appreciated how inquisitive the main character Elin is and how that drove her to seek knowledge. We get to follow her through her formative years (10-18) and get to see her grow and make a name for herself. Her story contains tragedy but she doesn't let that hold her down or define her. She is a strong female character that doesn't need to beat people up to show it. She is quiet and contemplative and this plays to her advantage and doesn't prevent her from standing up for what she believes is right.

Another thing I really enjoyed is that this book doesn't shy away from the more unpleasant and challenging aspects of caring for creatures, especially creatures that have the potential to be dangerous. It's not all sunshine and rainbows and frolicking in meadows. We do get some happy meadow scenes but they are not the majority. I found the details of caring for the Royal Beasts nicely fleshed out and I appreciated that we got to learn as Elin was acting them out, instead of through info dumps.

I really enjoyed this story and can't wait to read the rest of the series!