Actual rating 2.5 stars. 
 it was difficult to get through this book, I dutifully trudged along hoping that it would get better and that I would find some substance in Elisa. I sadly did not. 
 Elisa is the second daughter of a king. Her older sister is to be queen (I enjoyed this little fact!) and is thus already quite queenly - elegant, poised, intelligent. Elisa is jealous of her older sister, she often says things like I know in this situation Alodia would do this, or I'm not that like Alodia is etc. Which is quite frustrating to read.. this does lessen a lot towards the end of the book and she does undergo some character growth, thankfully. 
 Also, Elisa is very overweight. Does this bother me? Hell no. There is nothing wrong with a perfectly imperfect main character. But there were so many references to how she eats her feelings, how she feels inadequate about her weight, small things like "the chair creaked as I stood up". She was too focused on it. This made me think of Kelsea from the queen of the Tearling, she is also overweight and unhappy with her body but how it is conveyed is that she sighs when she looks in the mirror, and then she gets over it. And when she steps away from the mirror again she is confident and bad ass once more. She does not let her weight define her, but I think Elisa does. (view spoiler)[and of course, then she loses weight and gains confidence. Which sends mixed messages.. but you know, good for her. (hide spoiler)] 
 There isn't much substance or consistency to her character although towards the end she did at least show some steel and insight. 
 "Honor from death," I snap, "is a myth. Invented by the war torn to make sense of the horrific. If we die, it will be so that others may live. Truly honorable death, the only honorable death, is one that enables life." 
 The side characters were a little flat. The relationships in the book weren't well-defined, the emotions and intensity of the relationships weren't built up in their interactions as well as they could have been. I felt a bit detached from it all, not as a reader hopes to feel! 
 The plot was all right, this is religious fantasy but it wasn't done in an offensive way at all and it was also not overpowering. A good message on the power of faith. Although some of the aspects weren't too well thought out and if I ponder too long on certain things I have major doubts about why people did things, how that came about etc. I don't really see myself reading the rest of the series, unless the second book is maybe about Alodia. I actually read her short story first and she seems like my kind of heroine. Also, her and Zito please! I'm going to go check now....