"What are you doing to me, you plague of a girl?" he whispered. 
 "If I'm a plague, then you should keep your distance, unless you plan on being destroyed." The weapons still in her grasp, she shoved against his chest. 
 "No." His hands dropped to her waist. "Destroy me." 
 This book was nothing like I expected and was really different from anything I've read lately. I loved that it was written in third person so we had an idea of what was happening with each character as the plot progressed, because while I enjoyed Shahrzad's character, I'm not sure I would have liked the book as much if her POV was the only POV. Also, each character had a very separate agenda which made the plot more interesting. 
 While I appreciated so many aspects about this book and loved characters like Despina and Jalal, I found that there was just too much that was unexplained in this book for me to give it 5 stars. It starts quite abruptly and even now I still don't feel like I know Shahrzad very well as a character. I realize there was a point where her opinion of Khalid changed drastically, but I didn't feel like the reason why was enough for me. For a character that seems so stubborn, I wanted her to have more emotional motivation for it than the classic "I did it for love". I wanted to know the background behind why her character felt so comfortable transitioning into a position of power and how that integrally changed her as a person, because in the beginning she felt like she had no power while her best friend was taken away and killed. Shahrzad is a very complex character and I wanted to understand her more through situations that actively challenged her ability to react under pressure. When we begin the novel, we are introduced to a girl who is spontaneous, impulsive, and ready to act on what she believes in. By the end I was just like, where did that girl go? 
 However, I am very invested in Shahrzad and Khalid at this point. Their relationship dynamic is really unique and he is definitely a Rhysand-type of character (S/O to anyone that's read ACOMAF) who respects the fact that Shahrzad is her own woman and can handle herself as his equal. I really appreciated not just their romantic relationship, but their eventual friendship as well. 
 I was also very intrigued by the magical elements of this story, but felt like I was looking through a key hole in a door to try and understand what they were. I would like to see this explained much more in the next book. 
 Overall, I did really like this book and I'm very excited to read the next one (: