Betrothed since childhood to the prince of Mynaria, Princess Dennaleia has always known what her future holds. Her marriage will seal the alliance between Mynaria and her homeland, protecting her people from other hostile lands. But Denna has a secret. She possesses an Affinity for fire- a dangerous gift for the future queen of a kingdom where magic is forbidden. Now, Denna must learn the ways of her new home while trying to hide her growing magic. To make matters worse, she must learn to ride Mynaria’s formidable warhorses- and her teacher is the person who intimidates her the most, the prickly and unconventional Princess Amaranthine- called Mare- the sister of her betrothed. When a shocking assassination leaves the kingdom reeling, Mare and Denna reluctantly join forces to search for the culprit. As the two become closer, Mare is surprised by Denna’s intelligence and bravery, while Denna is drawn to Mare’s independent streak. And soon their friendship is threatening to blossom into something more. But with dangerous conflict brewing that makes the alliance more important than ever, acting on their feelings could be deadly. Forced to choose between their duty and their hearts, Mare and Denna must find a way to save their kingdoms- and each other.

My rating: 4 stars

Alright. Truth time. I started this back in August for the NEWTS readathon. I don’t know if it was because I wasn’t into it or it just wasn’t the right time, but I just did not want to pick this back up. I am now kicking myself. I just finished this on the 5th via audiobook and I enjoyed it so much. I literally found myself gasping and saying “no!” out loud. I did not think I would be this involved in the characters when I first started reading it. Some just attached themselves to me and didn’t let go and others just irritated me so very much.

Mare stole the show for me. She was my absolute favorite. Her family….not so much. Such a strong, independent woman that everyone except a few looked down on and thought useless.

Denna eventually grew on me. I never disliked her, but she didn’t really stand out either. By the middle and especially the end, I was on the Dennaleia bandwagon.

The plot took awhile to actually come together, but I actually didn’t mind because of the little hints and clues towards the bigger picture. Again, once the middle kicked in I was all in and needed to know what was going on and who was doing what. If my TBR wasn’t so huge already, I would start Inkmistress and then follow it up with Of Ice and Shadows. I just miss the ladies already 😫

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. First, let’s look at the synopsis:

Can you change destiny? Laurence Riley has seen the future, and all his visions are coming true. Just as he can’t control the addiction that dominates his life, or the mind games of his stalker ex-boyfriend, he also struggles with his untamed supernatural gifts. Jack can help. His price is that Laurence keeps him fed with regular offerings of sex, but Laurence has fallen for someone way out of his league whose wild telekinesis keeps them even further apart, and his debt to Jack is piling up fast. When he foresees the spread of a narcotic nectar that will leave a trail of death across San Diego, Laurence must find the courage to determine whether his visions are set in stone. The past has taught him that the future can’t be changed, but if Jack’s poisons win, there won’t be any future. There’s no time to lose.

Then it actually goes on to say “Fans of Sarah J Maas and Leigh Bardugo won’t want to miss what fans are calling Percy Jackson for adults.” Like what?? How? Yes I DNF it at 60% but even then the only mythology was the God Laurence prayed to since he is pagan.

Trigger warnings for drug addiction and attempted sexual assault. I’m not sure if there are anymore but these are ones that I came across.

This starts with a chapter from Laurence’s past and him actually overdosing. During that time he thinks he is hallucinating, but it’s actually visions of the future. The rest of the story picks up years(?) later with Laurence trying to fix his life by working with his mom at her flower shop but still battling his addiction. His ex Dan is a piece of work. Quentin is a sweet innocent angel and Jack is the total opposite.

This started out really interesting. Especially since it read like a slice of life contemporary with magical elements, something I do not like to read. I just kept wanting to see how Laurence and Quentin interacted with each other mostly. There was a major event that happened and I was so captivated by it. However, it happened in the middle of the book. It could have ended there or with a couple chapters of “event recovery” and then ended on a cliffhanger or something sweet to draw me in. It didn’t. It kept going and then started to feel like build up to another big event. I didn’t even get to the whole narcotics vision thing mentioned in the synopsis.

I’m tempted to go back and actually finish it to see if my feelings change by the end of it, but the author said they are working on book 7 of this series I believe and as much as I liked Laurence and Quentin (they pretty much were the only reasons I liked the book), I don’t think I care enough to continue on. Others might enjoy this but for me it just didn’t cut it.