This is definitely worth the hype. The world building, the poetic nature of the writing, the many complex characters, all top notch.

While I did enjoy the romance and the interactions between Oraya and Raihn, it’s the battles and war that really had my attention. The set up of the competition was interesting and gripping, I just wanted to know what each challenge would be and couldn’t wait to see how our leads would face it.

Enemies to lovers is not my favorite trope, an opinion some would not forgive, so the romance wasn’t my favorite part of the story. I appreciated it for what it was though, complicated and really just a dive into the mind of the leads which was interesting. Their romance was just a vehicle for me to learn more about them which made me want to know their stories more, which I think it’s important for a story like this.

Oddly enough, Vincent was one of my favorite characters, probably second behind Oraya. He plays such a distinct roll but it’s really hard to understand what is going on in his heart/head, I just wanted to know him better.