Hey all, Dani here.
Whew, today was a busy day of running a whole bunch of errands before coming to work. I’m wore out already and I’m in for a pretty busy weekend.
Don’t worry I have some recent read reviews coming too, but I’m trying to balance newer reviews with some of my review backlog as well. So today’s review delves back to late 2018, because I read this book in December of that year. Oops. When I get caught up I’m hopefully not going to let myself fall this behind again.
Okay, anyway, let’s get started.
Book Details
Format: OwlCrate Exclusive Hardcover
Pages: 311
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316487260 (ISBN13: 9780316487269)
Summary
In a world where women have no rights, sisters Serina and Nomi Tessaro face two very different fates: one in the palace, the other in prison.
Serina has been groomed her whole life to become a Grace – someone to stand by the heir to the throne as a shining, subjugated example of the perfect woman. But when her headstrong and rebellious younger sister, Nomi, catches the heir’s eye, it’s Serina who takes the fall for the dangerous secret that Nomi has been hiding.
Now trapped in a life she never wanted, Nomi has only one way to save Serina: surrender to her role as a Grace until she can use her position to release her sister. This is easier said than done. A traitor walks the halls of the palace, and deception lurks in every corner. But Serina is running out of time, imprisoned on an island where she must fight to the death to survive and one wrong move could cost her everything.
My Thoughts
Rating: 3.5 stars
All right, so the edition I read of this book was the OwlCrate edition which had an absolute cover revamp compared to the original. I have to say that I really like the cover change, but my opinion would have improved if OwlCrate had done a similar cover for the sequel/conclusion. That’s the issue I have with most of these exclusive covers; they change the first book of a series and then that’s all. I like having matching sets. Now, thankfully, most of the exclusive cover changes is just a shift in a color or two, so it isn’t too bad.
This book was good, not bad or great, but good. It was a fairly quick read, as well, which is pretty nice.
Unfortunately I also found the story to be a bit predictable, honestly. And I didn’t particularly feel invested in either of the main characters. To me it felt like we were only getting surface details and surface emotions. I wanted to delve so much deeper into the characters and their struggles.
This story had the potential to be utterly amazing, as two sisters are put into situations that are completely foreign to them. Rebellious Nomi has to act with poise and grace and play the political game, while demure Serina is thrown into a place where she has to literally fight to stay alive.
By lengthening this book another hundred pages, I think it could have expanded the roles of both sisters and really made me connect with them, their struggles, and their successes.
If I pick up the sequel, it will be a book I borrow from the library. I already unhauled my copy of this book so it would be silly to purchase the sequel/conclusion.
Where to Get a Copy
You can get your own copy from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore through IndieBound.
You can also check with your local library.
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