I have mixed views on this book but one thing for sure is that I liked it! 
 The book description pulled me in, the whole idea of a high fantasy book with a girl who can fight and wield a sword as a main character has been one of my favorites. Upon reading what this book was going to be about, I immediately thought of one of my favorite games, Final Fantasy XII and the main character Ashe B'nargin Dalmasca. She fought with swords and it was all for her kingdom (only she was the rightful Queen). And I also thought of how much this reminded a little bit of Game of Thrones, the TV series, in the way that Arya was into learning how to fight with swords, how strong her character is, etc. 
 So, taking into account that this was a high fantasy novel, I very much looked forward to the presence of Prince Damian and his personal guard, which the main character Alexa and her friend Rylan were a part of. 
 The conflict in the story was well executed, and there were lots of surprises that I didn't see coming (view spoiler)[like the fact that Daimon is a sorcerer and he's hiding the fact that he knows to defend himself with a sword among other things, and that Jax is his half brother (I thought that he was the son from his late brother Victor), or the fact that both Rylan and Damian already knew that Alexa was a girl all along (hide spoiler)]. 
 Now, for the love triangle. 
 Maybe it's because I'm romantically inept, but do girls seriously pine for 2 guys at the same time? Like honestly, Alexa always felt something stir inside of her whenever she was around both Damian and Rylan, she was always noticing how she had feelings for both of them- she was honestly confused and it confused ME even as I was reading it. To me it seemed like she was in love with both of them and I was relieved when she finally decided that it was Damian that she loved (she admitted to herself a few times she falling for him and later on while they were being held "prisoners" they proclaimed their love for each other which was sweet). And then towards the end of the story, Alexa decides (view spoiler)[just because she's scarred from the fire and she used to be part of his guard suddenly turned female (hide spoiler)] that she can't be with King Damian anymore much less have him choose her as his Queen since he has to think about what's good for his people now even though they so obviously love each other. 
 I mean, that's noble and everything but overused a little in books. One thing to look forward to in the next book is how this complicated relationships evolves. 
 Speaking of the next book, because of Alexa (view spoiler)[rejecting Damian's sort-of proposal to her becoming Queen (he didn't outright say it) (hide spoiler)], I 
 really don't want 
 for Alexa to change her mind and suddenly start liking Rylan romantically. It just doesn't sit well with me especially in love triangles but I want Prince King Damian and Alexa to end up together! 
 Now, to finish this all up, I loved the cover, which was another reason I wanted to read this book, but seriously, the cover had nothing to do with the story! How this book cover was chosen, I have no idea since there wasn't anything relevant about it. Was it because it symbolizes the fact that Alexa was the best sword fighter and that's why the knife/dagger was used? The rose on the hilt represented her being a girl in disguise? Upon further inspection, the background is that of trees like in the jungle mentioned in the story. 
 All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series, especially looking forward to the interesting twists and turns Sara B. Larson has created in this world.