This is a really well put together book that’s part mystery and part adventure. Elia’s point of view was really interesting to me because she’s a really refreshing Queen PoV. Rather than politics and drama and chess, she’s studious and an enormous history nerd. Being a huge geek myself, I loved that. I enjoyed her interactions with her few friends and her stubbornness. The romance was really light, which I liked, but if you’re a romance fan that might not work for you.

I loved learning about what really happened vs what was written down in the history books, and I loved the build up to the final showdown. The piece about Syllian’s father didn’t fit for me, but it didn’t bother me too terribly. I enjoyed the friction within the fire mages order and the trouble between them and the druids, especially with Syllian’s involvement in all of that-- that was really well done, I thought.

And another thing I loved was the worldbuilding--I know, no one who knows me is surprised. From multiple moons to multiple suns, the worldbuilding details are slipped in with finesse so that the reader is reminded often that we’re not on Earth. The immersion was handled with skill, so that at no time did I feel too daunted, and yet the intrigued constantly pulled me farther in.

If you love historical mysteries and second world fantasies with just a little light romance, this book is for you!