DNF at 25% 
 I felt like there was crazy promise for this book and it just never delivered. Given, I did read only the first fourth of the book, but still - I just wasn't securely hooked. I definitely feel like this was more of a romance than fantasy, because the instalove between Raisa and Mati was overwhelming up front and center for the first quarter of the book that I read. There was also an insane amount of writing lessons. 
 First off - my main issue is how does Raisa, a slave, just get selected to become a tutor in training - because the Prince liked her? Okay. I could maybe overlook that since she technically had to go against several other candidates...but...there was opportunity to expand on how she proved her worth to the 'gods' and I felt like her attaining the position was completely glossed over. 
 This book was honestly a bit dull, and Raisa comes off as a pretty poor heroine initially (I'm sure this changes near the end of the book, I'm just not interested enough in her character to really pursue it currently). We're also expected to be invested in the romance between Raisa and Mati, and I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy it - it was straight up instalove - no slow burn, nothing. It felt forced and unrealistic, and we were constantly witness to the blushing and swooning done by Raisa. 
 I was going to attempt to skim over the rest of this book, but didn't get the chance to do so before it was due back at my local library. I wasn't truly drawn in enough to care, but maybe I wasn't in the right mindset to start this book. Perhaps things will change and I will revisit this book if we by chance cross paths again.