Firstly, this book is written in the present tense which is something that I really dislike, that's why it took me a while to get into the story. The second thing that annoyed me is that the heroine is fat at the beginning of the book (it's not the bad part, I'm happy that we don't have a too skinny heroine as usual), but her weight and physique are describe in offensive terms. In addition, in order to prove herself useful and save her people, she goes through some trial and end up losing all her extra weight. The unfortunate message here (even if not not consciously by the author) is that you can't have extra weight if you want to be a hero and that you are a dead weight otherwise. 
 Other than that, the book is divided into different parts and each one has a different tone. I was expecting more palace intrigues, but even when she is at the court, the heroine mostly avoid any interaction with the nobles. In the end, we get a lot of travel (too much IMO, I had to skim partly through it) and some desert warfare. As for the characters, I really dislike the king, Alejandro. He is weak, always avoiding to take any decision, and he really acts badly toward the heroine even if he doesn't notice that he is hurting her. The heroine is ok. During the first part of the story she mostly reacts to the events around her, but after that she starts to try to influence them directly even if she is not always successful. Unfortunately, she can't really do a lot with the means she has at her disposal and it really frustrated me. I wasn't really attached ar particularly attracted to the other characters, even the second love interest. For me, they are just a bunch of random adolescents and they are a bit too cardboard. 
 I like the premises of the story and how the events turns out to be in the first half of the book, but I really dislike the second part with the desert. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the novel:(view spoiler)[ the two love interest die (and I didn't like any of them) and the heroine end up becoming the queen (hide spoiler)]. 
 The story behind the godstones (a stone place by God in the navel of his chosen on their naming day, a sign that they have a great task to accomplish for him)appears interesting, but we only get superficial information about it. Even if it is given more depth in the next book, I don't think that there will be enough to satisfy me and that I will still be frustrated. 
 In the end, it was a pleasant read but not exceptional. I will probably read the next book if I fall upon it at a time when I don't have anything else to read.