SYNOPSIS

Sera’s life was promised to another by an ancestor who struck a deal to save his kingdom before she was even born. When Sera is born, the kingdom begins to rot once again, leaving people starving and desperate.

Wanting to stop the kingdom from dying, Sera’s been conditioned by her mother and stepfather to fulfill the deal of marrying the Primal of Death, only with the goal of weakening him by getting him to fall in love with her, and then, killing him, in order to stop the rot.

On the day the Primal is to take Sera, he refuses her, leaving her confused and unsure of how to save her people.

What could happen?

RECAP AND REVIEW

This is the first book in a romantasy series of four books. The fourth comes out soon, in about a week. It’s told in the first person of Sera.

There’s parallels between this series and the From Blood and Ash series because this is the prequel story, but there are also obvious similarities in character traits and the dynamics between the leads. I’m not sure if it is intentional or not, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose this one wholeheartedly, and because I like this one so much, I didn’t mind it.

There is some world building in this book, but I can’t speak to how much of my knowledge of the world came from FBAA because I read that one first. There’s some Easter eggs too.

Sera was trained to be an assassin. She’s used to being invisible because growing up she wasn’t known as a Princess, which she is. She was no one, known as a handmaiden to anyone outside the family. Sera isn’t driven by fear and doesn’t back down. She has a strong sense of justice.

Right out of the gate, the book opens with a mystery that’s put the back burner, leading to the meeting of Sera and Ash. If you’ve seen my Instagram stories, you know this book had me giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. The banter and the chemistry between the leads was *chefs kiss*.

Different events happen throughout the book that lead us to where we end up by the end. I haven’t finished the series so I can’t say how much of it is important to the overall plot, but I more than enjoyed the journey and it gave me a great understanding of Sera.

I accidentally spoiled myself for the end of the book, which I didn’t see coming.

OVERALL

Overall, I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. So far it’s my favorite romantasy of the year. With romantasy series I’ve read like this, minus the Serpent and the Wings of the Night, I usually don’t love it until deeper into the series, even if it keeps my interest, but I loved this one and it only took me a few pages to get hooked.