Elizabeth is a watch hunter. That is, until she is accused of witchcraft herself. Then she finds herself questioning everything she's ever been taught, and fighting with a new group of people. 
 I was thoroughly engaged throughout the book. Boecker starts us on some action and keeps us moving along throughout. Her voice is easy to read and keeps the momentum going. I enjoyed the characters, and hope to see the side characters continue to grow throughout as well. 
 There are a lot of things that were pushed to the periphery that I would have loved to see explored more. Elizabeth's history as the king's mistress. What was their relationship? More about the world and how magic operates within it. Generally Boecker is good at revealing that information through action, but the world felt somewhat small and cramped. I couldn't get a really good sense of the scope of it. This is a shame, because I really enjoy the glimpses I am given. I think Boecker is playing with an interesting world, I just don't know the rules. 
 I appreciated the idea that Elizabeth was essentially brainwashed, and would be very resistant to this new information that would change her whole world. However, based on what I was given as a reader, and the world that had been painted for me, Elizabeth often came across as obtuse. Her flat details of reality, after she had been left to die, did not come across as mental self-preservation as much as bullheadedness. I understood what this was supposed to be, but it didn't read truthful to me. 
 The ending could use some tightening for me. The action happens very, very quickly at the end, and most of it centers around an illusion, But, it becomes confusing what is illusion and what is reality. Further complicated by the idea that some of it is left up in the air to keep me as a reader guessing, But it made me assume some pivotal action was actually just in Elizabeth's head when it was not. And frankly, it made sense that I thought this because it didn't necessarily logically connect and was somewhat overly dramatic. Some extra clarity really would have helped. 
 The board pieces are set and I am intrigued to see where the series goes from here.