This is the first instalment in the Grisha trilogy. Orphan Alina Starkov has spent her life flying under the radar. That is, until her army regiment comes under attack and she unwittingly unleashes a dormant power to save the ones she loves. Or, more accurately, the one she loves, who comes in the form of best friend, Mal Oretsev. This new power sees her wrenched from the life she knows and transferred to becoming one of the Grisha elite. 
 Whilst I did enjoy this, I can't say that there was anything I took from it or that was particularly memorable. It seemed to adhere to the generic formula for YA fantasy, with cardboard characters I felt little empathy for and basic world-building. Protagonist, Alina, was likeable enough but she wasn't depicted as feisty or independent enough for my personal tastes. Side character Genya would have made for a far more interesting perspective to read the story from, in my personal opinion. 
 And then there was the emergence of the dreaded insta-love! I didn't find Alina's two suitors in any way appealing or suited to her character and it bothered me that neither desired her before the emergence of her powers. This seems to be a running theme in YA and I am honestly a little bored of it, now. Nothing in Alina's personality or appearance stood out and neither did anything in her relationships. 
 There was a major and unforeseen plot twist that occurred just after the half-way point that went some way to transforming my judgement on this and probably added another star to the overall rating. It wasn't enough on it's own, however, to completely reverse my blase opinions. 
 This was likeable enough without being compelling, the writing flowed beautifully and I am interested enough in the story to continue with the series. There were no major flaws with this but nothing majorly unique to it, either.