When I started reading this book I thought "Why did I get myself into this?" 
 It was really slow, and the main character seemed so boring and meek, but I was glad I kept on reading because it picks up a lot. At first, Zoe was really dull, but it turns out that she was not really lacking personality; she was just grieving and depressed because her father just died. After she starts to overcome her grief, a strong personality starts to show. Zoe is strong, stubborn, honest, and loving. And powerful. It doesn't show until past the first half of the book, but she really does live up to her blessing. 
 The "random blessing" belief was what I loved the best of the world, as I had never read something similar before. When a baby is born, the father asks random strangers to give him a blessing for the newborn child. This is believed to describe the baby's personality and life. There are also temples where one can go to meditate and find balance with the five elements and pick a blessing to help one make a decision or describe what comes ahead in the future. A God was never mentioned, and the characters never asked themselves if there was something controlling people's lives or the blessings, and I liked that they didn't. It was a completely fresh culture. I was also surprised that this was not the medieval-ish setting but more like steampunk-ish, I wasn't expecting that but it worked. 
 The story is full of secrets and plots, and it is more character driven than plot driven. There is a lot of character development and court intrigue, but not much adventure if that's what you are looking for. The romance was slowly built and smooth, there was no love triangle (thank heavens!) and their interactions where really fun. I think I'm a bit in love with Darien. 
 I look forward to reading the next books. I know that the princesses are the main characters, and I would love to get to know them better and explore more about the world.