In terms of the MMC, 🤡😭- I don't even want to think about how disappointing he was. He was just as bland as they come, and truly made me question so many things. He couldn't even do his reveals right 💀. this review contains all the spoilers bc i’m the mastermind and i guessed all twists. bc again i’ve read this before but in different font. Endured 12 years under the Aurora King. Lor wants to get free and make him pay for every torment he's done. But then she finds herself kidnapped and enters a deadly contest to win the Sun King's heart. i hoped lor would become suspicious of everyone after mag’s cryptic words and the dialogue she heard between atlas and gabriel.

I think the thing that made it so bad for me, was the blatant disregard of the h's characterization, all for the sake of insta-love 😐.Nadir is our second point of view character, a character who Lor sees as the villain throughout. He has the potential to be interesting but nothing below the surface is really explored with him, though it's rather set up that book two would lead to an enemies to lovers arc. That said, honestly, he's another character who was severely disinteresting, two dimensional, and who--quite frankly--didn't need a point of view. Nothing that happened in those sections is something that couldn't have been explored through a point of view in book two because all of his sections were set up for that.

Nope, there's no romance in the book, just insta-lust all over it. Their whole conversation is so cringeworthy I was tormented reading it.

Our fmc LOR is kidnapped and thrown into the deadly Sun Queen trial where she competes with other tributes to become the queen. The fantasy aspect of the book was the only reason I didn't rate this lower. The general premise behind it, although predictable, was relatively interesting, but just was not fledged out. Nothing really got the time to fully be explained. First, I'll start off by saying something that actually worked in this book's favor because it needs the brownie points for what I'm gonna say after. The trials were a little wild to me, deadly games and competitions to win a man’s heart is a little too intense. This book was predictable in that it was very obvious that sun king was not the main mmc. He was giving Tamlin from acotar vibes tbh. It’s also a slow burn it has some romance but not with the character I wanted so I’m excited for the next book to see where it goes. Overall this was good, I still don’t really understand the world and the magic system and but I’m invested in the fmc and I’m excited for the next book! In terms of the other side characters, they weren't amazing- but I still would've preferred to have read about them.

Thank you, Lor. One thing I’ve always hoped for in a bonded partner is someone who can make me become a better version of the Fae I am.” Atlas, the sun king, is the mmc Lor is trying to win the affections of. I was on the fence about him at first, but then he says stuff like, “You’re mine. You’re going to be mine. But, with every answer we get, we end up with more questions along the way. There are hints dropped, clues provided, and easter eggs mentioned and I can only draw my own conclusions about what the author is trying to foreshadow. Some of them seem kind of obvious because they're repetitive, but I'm still not sure where she is going with this. I think it will be a very satisfying story once all of the pieces are put together...Ok I get it it's kind of the point because he's the villain that and I can see it from miles away BUT WHY NOT TRY TO MAKE IT BELIEVABLE?! PUT SOME EFFORT IN?! If you just made him an asshole from the start then what's the point?? Lor is an amazing fmc. She’s intelligent, resilient, and a totally bad ass human in a game full of fae. While she was a little naive, I loved watching her grow and get stronger and stronger throughout this book.