Nothing in this world really made sense to me, especially everything regarding Kelsea being hidden away so she could live to be queen but then not being taught anything about being queen. While I'm all for unlikeable heroines, it feels like Kelsea is supposed to be a character we like (she's "feminist"! she loves to read! she makes her own decisions without help from people who are more knowledgeable about politics!) but ultimately isn't. She's rude to so many people. She is "plain" and has terrible thoughts about women who are pretty or women who aren't and have the audacity to feel good about themselves. She hates religion and will hate you for being religious. I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but I rolled my eyes a lot while listening to this. Basically, this book combines all the things I don't like about high fantasy, especially gratuitous sexual violence and a lack of female characters. Also, it was just boring.