I had really high hopes for this book but it wasn't quite what I had been expecting. It received rave reviews from Amanda and Jenn on Get Booked (podcast by Book Riot) so maybe I had unrealistic expectations. It was a fun read and I did enjoy it-- I kept reading until the end and it even made me chuckle a few times. But it felt a bit forced, somehow. 
 I think what bothered me most at the beginning was that no one was explaining anything in this new world to the protagonist, and she accepted it all too quickly. Also, their reasons for waiting to explain things was never really clear to me, and also I felt there were a few unanswered questions when things were revealed. Why was the guy hiding his face behind his hood? Nothing dramatic happened when he first showed his face. What were they really waiting for, before explaining everything to the protagonist? 
 I liked the setting and the style of fantasy. It's nice to find diverse fantasy, with a person of colour wearing beautiful sarees as the main character. I need to practice with visualizing the characters as they are described; I kept catching myself white-washing the characters as I tend to imagine myself in the story (especially when it is written in first person). I guess that's a privilege of being caucasian: that I can be so used to identifying with the characters and seeing myself in the story, that I can even for a moment forget if the character is a person of colour. I'll keep working on that. 
 I just felt a little underwhelmed overall. It was a fun world though, interesting and I don't regret reading it. I don't think I strongly recommend this book, I don't feel the need to push it into the hands of everyone i know.