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Wren Greenrock has always known that one day she would steal her sister’s place in the palace. Trained from birth to return to the place of her parents’ murder and usurp the only survivor, she will do anything to rise to power and protect the community of witches she loves. Or she would, if only a certain palace guard wasn’t quite so distractingly attractive, and if her reckless magic didn’t have a habit of causing trouble…
Princess Rose Valhart knows that with power comes responsibility. Marriage into a brutal kingdom awaits, and she will not let a small matter like waking up in the middle of the desert in the company of an extremely impertinent (and handsome) kidnapper get in the way of her royal duty. But life outside the palace walls is wilder and more beautiful than she ever imagined, and the witches she has long feared might turn out to be the family she never knew she was missing.
Two sisters separated at birth and raised into entirely different worlds are about to get to know each other’s lives a whole lot better. But as coronation day looms closer and they each strive to claim their birthright, the sinister Kingsbreath, Willem Rathborne, becomes increasingly determined that neither will succeed. Who will ultimately rise to power and wear the crown?

Thank you to the publishers of this book for a pre-release copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the most advanced copies before release I’ve ever been sent – it actually doesn’t release until May 12th! I’ve had this one for a couple of months, but I’ve finally picked it up a few months ahead of publication and this one was such a pleasant surprise. I’ve read Wing Jones and Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber and absolutely loved them, so when I saw she was a co-author of this new YA fantasy, I knew I wanted to pick it up.

I wasn’t sure how this would read, and I was a little daunted by the size of it, clocking in at just over 500 pages. But I soon realised this one is such an easy read and almost feels a little guilty pleasure because of it – I’ve seen that this is a-likened to The Selection and although I would disagree in a lot of ways (this one is definitely a lot more sophisticated!) I definitely felt similar with how easy this one was to read.

I liked so much about this series on top of the wonderful writing – both Wren and Rose were brilliant female main characters, and I really liked both of them. I was a little concerned about Rose coming across as privileged due to her upbringing, and even though she does to a degree, I still really liked her character. I also liked the love interests which definitely made for a more enjoyable read, and I liked the animal companions so much too!

The setting and magic world are both great to read about, and I could definitely picture the world very well. The world-building is brilliantly balanced with the rest of the story, and I really enjoyed reading about it. The plot was well paced for the most part, and the only part that let me down slightly was right at the end, which felt quite rushed.

Overall, this book just had so many great parts to it and I really enjoyed reading. It didn’t quite reach 5 stars for me, but it was very close to it!

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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