I received this book on a read to review basis from NetGalley. Thank you to the author, Kiersten White, and the publisher, Corgi Childrens, for this opportunity. 
 This was so, so different from what I had expected it to be! I saw this book had been tagged as fantasy and anticipated a straight forward yet other-worldly read, but what I got was so much more: This managed to amalgamate the best of a variety of genres into one novel that transgresses boundaries with its narrative, themes, characters and genre. 
 The book is set in the dual perspectives of Lada and Radu, daughter and son of the renowned Vlad Dragwyla, prince of Wallachia, during the nineteenth century. They are used as political bargaining chips and spend the majority of their young lives as wards to the sultan of bordering lands. 
 Lada quickly became one of the most fiercesome, and yet lovable, female protagonists I have ever encountered. She was such a bad-ass female heroine and totally not a product of her cultural, historical and societal background. Her upbringing did little to shape the feisty, independent and savage warrior that emerges within her as the novel progresses. Her determination to betray what was expected from her gender and to overcome every obstacle in her rise in strength and notoriety made her one of the best YA role-models I have ever read about. She was a flawed character and not all of her character traits were admirable, but that only heightened how real she was and made me more invested in the story of her struggle with them. 
 Her brother, Radu, is a gentler and more naive creature. His fragility was highly endearing and it was interesting seeing how the atypical gender stereotypes played out in their reversal in these two siblings. 
 There were many hard-hitting themes covered in this book that were handled excellently. Whilst being primarily a fantastical and historical YA, this also covered themes such as sexuality, puberty, cultural appropriation, religion, societal norms, feminism, sexism, defeating the patriarchy, politics, court intrigue and battle tactics. This was not just a well-written and enjoyable story, but also a well-structured satire exploring dense themes and overcoming many gender and genre defining stereotypes.