Summary
The people of Ruina are feared because of the magic they wield. And their queen has taught them to use their powers and brutally exert control over others. But the king of Lera is determined to exterminate the Ruined and their magic. He kills the Ruined queen himself. He even convinces the Vallos princess, Mary, to cut off the Ruined king’s head as part of the agreement to marry Lera’s Prince Casimir. The king also captured the powerful Ruined princess, Olivia. Her powerless sister Emelina is presumed dead.
But Emelina is very much alive – and very dangerous, even without magic. Her plan is to pose as the Vallos princess, marry Prince Casimir, find her sister, and get a front row seat to the destruction of Lera. Her plan does not include Prince Casimir being somewhat reasonable. He questions his father’s policies about the Ruined. He’s not at all what Em expected. But none of that matters. Recovering her sister is her primary aim. Destroying Lera and the royal family is revenge for everything they took from her and from her people.
Review
I loved the complicated and conflicting motives and interpretations of war in this book. It reminded me of Ash Princess in that way except this is a more active story right from the start. The author does a great job of letting the book jacket summary tell the back story initially so that the action starts immediately on the first page. Em and Cas both feel like their side of the war is justified because of what the other side did first. Violence and fear and vengeance perpetuate it. But the prince and his deceitful bride slowly see glimpses of the other perspective and how complicated it is to find a way to peace.
I loved the characters. Em and Cas are terrific together, even when they are bitter enemies with swords pointed at one another. The secondary characters – with their own goals and priorities – add some nice complications as well as depth to the story.
This is more violent than some other books in the displaced-royalty-fighting-for-their-place collection of stories. (A collection I love!) And that violence pushes the tension and action right to the last page. The tension at the end made me happy I picked up the second book a few days before I finished this one so I can dive right in. I highly recommend this for older teens and young adult/adult readers who are comfortable with the level of violence. This story and the characters are terrific.
In the interim between writing this review and posting it, I have had time to read the other two books in the series – Avenged and Allies – and I enjoyed the entire trilogy. Is it perfect? No, but I found the story and the characters to be compelling. I had to know what was going to happen, and I was satisfied with the wrap up.