Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsI WISH A REVIEW WARNED ME
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2022
This is a great story. Written well, imaginative and will keep you fully engaged. It is interesting even though it's simplistic in a YA sort of way. Everything is face value and straightforward. But that is likely because the length of the book doesn't offer enough room for character or world depth. That's also why there is not enough depth to redeem the central theme. The "Heir at any cost" theme ruins this as a love story. Its a common trope that brings a couple together but in this story it's also used as the obstacle. Which absolutely destroys every single moment of budding romance. The duty vs love dichotomy colors every interaction negatively and makes the last half of the book really uncomfortable. Much like the end of a long game of keep away, the HEA was wrung of any triumph. Being just what marked the end of the back and forth.
*light spoilers*
While the connection is made obvious from the beginning, I'm not sure if the insta love makes it better or worse. When the duty to be fulfilled, is to make whoopee to save the world. The last chapter POV change confirms the bread crumbs you clung to like a life raft navigating the sea of (sort of) infidelity that is 40% of this story. I would recommend the book because it makes you care about the characters & the story. Everyone is likeable, except the love interst. I would not recommend this book to past me because the "wrong choice" conflict was gross & I spent the rest of the book with my lip curled in disgust.
