This book starts out slow, so I certainly did not expect to become one of my favorite books by the end. It takes about 1/3 of the book to reach the top of the first hill in the roller coaster that is this book, and then, holy crap, the rest of the ride is fast-paced, exciting, filled with twists and turns, and downright amazing. 
 The first third of this book is filled with our main character grieving for her father and just sort of drifting and not really having much in the way of a personality or goal. She spends her time sitting around being homeless, shopping, eating, and working in a shoe shop. It's about as exciting as it sounds and goes on for way too long. (view spoiler)[Her "escape" from Darien was so random and unexciting, I had to rewind the audiobook cause I was sure I'd misheard what just happened. She literally just walks out the door and wanders away on a whim! (hide spoiler)] 
 But then, but then, she discovers the truth about herself and her powers and the rest of the book is an exhilarating tale of magic, court intrigue, murder mystery, and romance! I couldn't put it down! This book is amazing. I highly recommend it to any fantasy fan who likes some believable(!!!) romance and some royal court drama, intrigue, and mystery. 
 The Main Character 
 Zoe starts out grieving for her father and basically doesn't really care what happens to her in the period of grief. While this is certainly believable, it goes on for a bit too long in the beginning. However, once we get into the meat of the book, Zoe snaps out of her grief and we finally get to see her true personality. Turns out she's pretty feisty and hotheaded and doesn't give a crap what most people think of her! 
 Zoe turns out to be a very believable and relatably flawed heroine, who grows wonderfully over the course of the novel. We see her learn to grow into her duties and learn how to navigate the intrigue at court. We also see her weaknesses when she loses her temper and tries to control her power. We see what matters to her (her friends) and what doesn't (her clothes and material possessions). We see her develop friendships and rivalries as well as her trying to come to terms with her realization that she has gradually come to love someone. We see her learn that her father was not perfect and come to terms with that and her love for him. Zoe is a wonderful main character and I am sad the next books in the series do not revolve around her. 
 The romance 
 Oh the romance in this book. I ate it up. You know why? Cause it's actually believable. I am so tired of romance in fantasy books where the characters fall in love instantly (or within a couple days). That's not how love works, sorry. That's just infatuation (or lust). (view spoiler)[Although, this is slightly ruined by Darien's declaration at the end, that he fell in love and decided to marry her during their first trip to Chialto together while she was grieving. At least Zoe didn't fall in love at first sight, sigh. (hide spoiler)] The main romance in this book develops over many, many scenes of the main character and her love interest bickering, teasing, arguing, helping each other, or simply talking and getting to know one another. There are not in love at first sight, love comes after friendship, trust, and reliance. Both of these characters have strong personalities, have their own independent goals and duties, and are confident in their own selves; they do not need each other, but simply find they complement each other and are happy in the other's company. That right there is a healthy lesson in what love is supposed to be. 
 The romance takes almost a year to develop before the payoff (the first kiss). And it feels so earned, because you've seen these characters slowly getting to know one another and starting to rely on one another. And even better, the romance is not the central conflict of this novel, Zoe by no means needs a man, Zoe has plenty of goals other than to be with Darien, and they don't just jump into bed together the first time they kiss. They are confused about how they feel and how to proceed, and are trying to balance the duties of their positions with their feelings for each other. You know, like in real life! I loved it. I wish all fantasy romances were written so well. 
 (view spoiler)[To top off the awesomeness of this book, what I initially thought was a flaw in the story (Why does Alys hate Zoe so much despite barely knowing her? Just cause she's mean?) was thoroughly explained at the end when you find out Darien is Corene's father. I was totally taken aback by this revelation too, I'd been thinking maybe Darien was Natalie's father, but I'm happy to be proved wrong this time as it makes all Alys's actions towards Darien and Zoe make sense. I love this book. (hide spoiler)] 
 The made up time words 
 Apparently there is a page before chapter 1 that explains quintiles and ninedays. Shame on the audiobook version for skipping this very important piece of information. 
 I was very confused about all the time expressions (quintile, nineday, Quinncoru, etc.) for about the first 25% of this book before I checked a physical copy of the book at the library. I wish these words had simply been explained in the text, rather than as a blurb in the front of the book, and, to be honest, I simply don't understand why fantasy authors don't just always use normal time expressions like Spring and weeks. It does not make me any less invested in the story, and perhaps makes me more invested, since I am not wasting time wondering what a word meant that was defined 100 pages ago. 
 For those poor souls who, like me, are listening to the audiobook, I will quote the blurb on time expressions so you are not as confused as I was: 
 The calendar of Welce is divided into five quintiles. A quintile consists of eight "weeks," each nine days long. Most shops and other businesses are closed on the firstday of each nineday. The first quintile of the year, Quinnelay, stretches from early to deep winter. It is followed by Quinncoru, which encompasses late winter to midspring; Quinnahunti, late spring to midsummer; Quinnatorz, late summer to fall; and Quinnasweela, fall to early winter. The quintiles are separated by changedays, generally celebrated as holidays. Quinnelay changeday is the first day of every new year. Since there are five changedays, and five seventy-two-day quintiles, the Welce year in 365 days long.