Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this novel. 
 You can find this review, and more at thisisjustabookblog.tumblr.com 
 For some reason, I love the title of this novel. I just think it's really beautiful. The summary of the novel is also great; it made me really excited to read this book. It didn't quite live up to my expectations, however. 
 Though I will say that the novel certainly got better as it went on, I was disappointed by how easily it fell into young adult tropes. The first couple of scenes were set in a school, when they didn't have to be. There are so many better, more imaginative ways for the main characters to meet each other, and after reading the prologue, being pushed into a school setting just didn't work for me. I wanted something a bit different, something which lived up to the fantasy/sci-fi genre. The school setting just didn't work, mostly because it lead to some massive cliches, like the popular, pretty and mean love rival. Her character was just so unnecessary, and later she's even called a 'slut'... I don't agree with the term anyway, but there is literally no evidence that she's slept with a lot of people. All she did was be mean because she was jealous of Riven and Caden. 
 It was a little bit instalove-y, too, though Riven did her best to fight against it. My problem was that Riven, in theory, sounds like a really great character. An assassin, a prodigy who was considered formidable to most grown men. She was brought up in a different universe, and had everted (jumped from her universe to Caden's, the one the reader knows) to take Caden back to her prince. She struggles with her emotions - wants to be independent and without attachment, but finds herself caring for people when she shouldn't. All of this sounds wonderful, and interesting, and gives you a lot of room for exploration and development. But in reality it just didn't quite work. 
 Firstly, we're always told how brilliant she is with not much actual proof. For example, she probably lost consciousness about four times in the novel. She lost a fair few fights. A lot of the time she didn't seem have any instinct. She had a make-out session int he middle of a house that she had broken in it on a mission. Her position and reputation just isn't believable, to me. Then there's her preachiness, her belief that she is better than others, that she doesn't need other people. It doesn't come off very well. I didn't actually like her, for a good half of the novel. She did grow on me, though, in part two. 
 Her relationship with Caden was confused. Not just because she was confused (which she was), but because she said some really horrible things to him, and he seemed to forgive her really easily. He spent a lot of the book having no backbone, apart from when he suddenly became a really good fighter, good enough to take on Riven, who was supposed to be basically the best in her universe. So that was a little weird. 
 The plot was good enough to sustain the novel, though sometimes it lacked a little direction. There wasn't a clear want from any of the characters. Not to mention that it was very clear that some characters were only there as a plot device, and were gotten rid of as soon as possible. I did like the intrigue of Riven's world, and what was going on, but I didn't think it was explained very well. Occasionally I was just confused about the politics, and what exactly was happening, and who was working for who. 
 I would've liked to have met her father, who is mentioned so often. He's kind of built up as this really interesting character, and we just never meet him. Cale, who we eventually meet, just didn't fit with Riven's picture of him. I feel like his character just changed so much from what she knew, that it was unbelievable. Was she really that unobservant or obtuse that she didn't notice what he was like before? 
 I did have my issues with the novel, and I certainly wouldn't say it was the most well-written thing I've read. But it did keep me mildly entertained, and it had so much potential, too, though that wasn't really reached. I had an issue with the ending too - I just didn't particularly like it. The thing with Caden was a bit sudden - he'd only just moved to the world - and then she just made a decision without consulting everyone. And this was right after puke-y cliched declarations of happiness. So it was a bit odd.