DNF at 30%. "But Khanh, how can you give such a low rating when you've barely given the book a chance?" Because I've read enough crap YA to tell when a book is beyond redemption. I almost abandoned it after the second chapter, but was in a forgiving mood, and hung on a little longer. I should have stopped then. 
 In a faux-Roman whatever world where people speak in dialogue as natural as Yankee imitating Ye Olde English in King Arthur's Court, there lives a family. Sorta. Jessamy lives with her hugely pregnant mother and three sisters, Amaya, Maraya, and Bettany. They're all Commoners, lower-class, frowned upon, and their existence is more remarkable by the fact that daddy is a Patron. 
 Patrons are people either born in the old empire of Saro or descended from ancestors who emigrated from Saro to Efea any time in the last hundred years. The law forbids people of Saroese ancestry from marrying the native people of Efea, who are called Commoners. 
 Right. So theirs is a forbidden love story, a beautiful Commoner woman and her brave Patron lover (because of course, they're not married). Daddy is an honored soldier, who has been deeply faithful and loving and loyal to his lower-class wife and children despite all the criticism he has received. The sisters and their mother live in relative luxury in the warmth of a loving home. But they've got to behave themselves, even more so because of the tenuousness of their parents' forbidden love, in order to not bring dishonor upon their names. 
 Girls like us have to be more decorous and well-mannered than the daughters of other officers because our father is a lowborn army captain fighting to make his fortune through valor and bold leadership. Which one of us would dare jeopardize his steady, hard-fought climb through the ranks by indulging in disreputable behavior? 
 GEE, I'LL GIVE YOU ONE GUESS. 
 Stupid Bettany...for some reason, is SO DEFIANT. An easy life isn't good enough...she just something more than this provincial life or whatever. She's been training in secret. So happily and sneakily defying her family and the social standards...because for some reason she wants to be some kind of a fucking Gladiator in this stupid ass competition called The Fives. She is gleefully plotting her escape that day to compete in this competition when - horror of all horrors, soldier daddy comes home and plans to show off his family and take them to view the competition itself! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 
 "It will take some days to set up proper victory games, so tomorrow's procession will finish with the usual weekly Fives. Lord Ottonor has requested our family's presence in his balcony box for the occasion." 
 I shut my eyes as the full scope of the disaster blows down over me. My plans, my hard work, and the scraps of money I have saved for months: all washed away. 
 Disaster! Disaster! 
 Dressing up and hanging out with your family and having your proud father show you off to the world lovingly despite the fact that he should have been ashamed of you and your family?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The horror is unimaginable, clearly. Of course, it is an opportunity beyond compare to everyone else. 
 "Oh, Father! I have so often dreamed of having the chance to attend the games at the Royal Fives Court!" breathes Amaya. 
 So she's going to be forced to be with her family in their box during the competition...surely she wouldn't plan on doing anything SO STUPID AS TO SNEAK OUT TO COMPETE IN THE COMPETITION WHILE EVERYONE'S EYES ARE ON HER. 
 One guess. 
 SURELY SHE WOULD NEVER GET CAUGHT. SURELY SHE WOULD NEVER EMBARRASS HER FAMILY. 
 Instead of answering I look at the rug. I have failed Father in the worst way: I have caused him to lose face. He knows it, and so do I. 
 "You did not want your father to know you run the Fives, is that it?" 
 "Yes, my lord." I finally look up. 
 Father is actually too stunned to speak as the extent of my insubordination hits him. 
 SURELY SHE WOULDN'T BE THE CAUSE OF HER FAMILY'S DOOM. 
 I stumble, overcome by fear and grief, and barely catch myself against the door that has locked me away from my mother and sisters. The whole world has broken apart around me. 
 And you know what the stupid fucking crux of this is? Jessamy gets what she wanted after her family is destroyed. She gets to compete in the stupid Fives. She gets her dream thanks to her own stupidity and the betrayal of her family. I don't want to continue reading about a girl who benefits from her own family's downfall. The end.