First review of 2014. I am not impressed. 
 This did not work for me. It did not work for me for one simple reason: The first half of the book was weak. 
 This is a Fantasy Y.A. with political intrigue elements to it and a light teenager-y romance. Mel, our heroine, is a countess of a district called Tlanth, which falls in Remalna city. Mel and her brother have never been to the capital and after their mother's death, their dad filled them with hatred and fear towards the noble and the courtiers. When their dad passes away, these country bumpkins decide to take on the bad king and seize the throne. A solid premise, yet the first half of the book did not do it justice. The events were mainly Mel running away, getting caught and hiding from the enemy. The characters and their interactions came off as shallow, especially Bran, Oria, Julen and the rest of Tlanth's residents. The only characters with some depth to them were Mel and Vidanric. A book should have a full cast of round characters and not only have 2 strong leads. 
 Anyway, I didn't feel the first part and thus did not understand Mel's hatred towards Vidanric. I mean, I saw the reason, but the emotion did not translate to me, the reader. The second half was much more enjoyable; yet again, the rest of the characters fell flat. 
 I especially disliked the ending, which showed us Mel a couple of years later, yet acting exactly the same as a teenager. No character growth what so ever. 
 The ending also contained certain scene, retold from Vidanrics point of view. I would have enjoyed these had I cared about the book. Unfortunately, I was bored by the end and just saw them as a chore. I personally might have enjoyed it more had the book initially contained split POV's, and for those that think it would have eliminated the element of surprise, I challenge you to find anyone that didn't figure out the "twist" within the first part of the book. 
 I didn't really care for this book. I wouldn't recommend it. I've given it 3 stars because the writing was okay, I enjoyed some of the second part and I'm a sucker for unrealized love hidden as resentment and bitterness.