"This is the story of a girl who fooled a thousand boys, a boy who fooled an entire country, a partnership that would change the fate of realms, and a power to challenge the greatest tyrant the world had ever known. Expect magic." 
 Despite this warning at the very beginning, I somehow didn't expect that much magic. YA books these days seem to touch the surface of potentially great magic systems and leave it at that, with the plot being more dominant and the finer details being ignored. I have never read a Sherry Thomas book before, this was my first, but I saw that she writes mostly romance books so naturally, I expected strong romance with very little world building. This was not so! 
 There is excellent, extensive world-building in this book. The detail that goes into the magic system is amazing, way beyond other YA books! 
 I loved the characters. Titus has depth I didn't notice at first, he has the arrogant prince attitude down so well. But he is actually such a sweetheart and I really felt for him! 
 Iolanthe starts off a bit shaky, for a while I was terrified she would be a Mary Sue but she actually is pretty hardcore and I grew very fond of her! She is intelligent and has a quick wit with delightful humour. Together they had a very entertaining dynamic. I giggled a lot at their banter and at Iolanthe as she was pretending to be one of the boys, she does it so well! 
 The first quarter of the book takes some dedication to get through, the writing style felt a bit formal and clunky to me in the beginning. But once things start happening it flows very easily! 
 A great plot, with unexpected turns and a lot of potential. I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy fans! Seriously, great magic. 
 The other elements of the book are good too. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you pick this one up.