Full review: http://youngadultlovin.blogspot.com/2... 
 I picked this book up out of curiosity. There were mixed reviews from my friends and on Goodreads, but, my curiosity ran out. Marie Lu, Cinda Williams Chima, Rae Carson, AND Sarah J. Maas all blurbed it, calling it a "intricate fantasy" with a "gorgeous romance". I was intrigued. Defintely. It was a smart advertising choice, Publishing company. On Goodreads, it had mixed reviews. However, I wanted to try it out. So, I picked it up. It took me a pretty long time to get into it. And if it were not for me, trying to get on track with my Goodreads Challenge, I probably would have put it down. And that's my first thing-if you like books that have action on like, the first page, don't read this. This is fantasy, but the first 200 pages were all politics, and boring. Talking about stuff, blah blah blah. The action all came in the last 100 pages. The character, Iolanthe, despite having an awesome name, is an absolutely boring character. I yawned with her the whole book. Maybe that was the point, as the summary calls her "a reluctant sixteen-year-old girl with no training". Prince Titus, is our normal superhero guy dude. Boring. No personality at all. All he wants to do is save Iolanthe. 
 The one thing I liked was the world building. It was an incredibly complex magic system, but I liked it. It was intricate, and complicated, which is my cup o' tea. 
 My problem with this book was the slow beginning, and the bland characters. Half the time, I couldn't tell Titus from Iolanthe, and that's bad, but there were about a gazillion a lot of other minor characters, with such similar names and personalities and actions, I got VERY confused. Titus was calling Iolanthe Fairfax half the time, and Iolanthe the other half, and I didn't know who the heck was talking. Actions happened so rapidly in the end, my head hurt. 
 I don't know what's wrong. Typically, I understand high fantasy. I'm a high fantasy fanatic, after all. But...this book... *sighs* I really hoped to enjoy this book, but I really don't like it that much.