**Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen Australia for sending me an ARC in return for an honest review. 
 4 stars!!! 
 So I managed to finally finish this book. 680 pages is a lot and I read this on top of my Uni assignments. So, kudos to me!!! :D . All in all, I can say that I really did enjoy this book. I was surprised to see all the one star ratings for this one and am shocked honestly. I think the only way to know if a book is good is to read it and judge it for yourself. That's my opinion anyway, I rarely review books based on anyone else's judgement. You never know, maybe a book someone disliked, you might actually prefer it. Anyway, back to the review. I'm going to break this book down into parts because I feel there are many elements which I really liked. 
 Firstly, I really loved Laurie Forest's writing style. It flowed seamlessly and her descriptions are very vivid. I found the worldbuilding quite immersive and engaging. The way she described Gardneria and the other magical beings was just beautifully done. I could actually imagine walking around and seeing things from the eyes of the protagonist. I also liked how she gave quite a lot of background history as to the different realms, the people living there and other aspects such as religion as well as politics. I thought things were clearly defined and not too confusing. There was not much info dumping which was a relief. It was mostly interspersed throughout the book's chapters. I also appreciated the inclusion of a map. That made things much easier as well. 
 Now on to the second aspect that I liked. This is where many reviewers started to really tear this book apart but I'm not going to do that. Before I delve into the characters, I'm going to be clear on the key issues in this book. This story is a dark fantasy. There are topics within the book that might offend people but guess what isn't that life. Plus, we have to take into account that this world has been created from the author's mind. Thusly, to insinuate that they are being racist and not diverse enough is just plain silly. Yes, this book touches on supremacy, bullying, self-harm, sexism and a whole lot of other politically charged topics. But I think Laurie has done a great job of showing how the MC deals with these things and realises the world she has grown up is not what it really is. She tries to make amends. She tries to be different and I think that's great. Don't get me wrong, I did find some things in this book hard to swallow and reconcile myself to but the world in which the character lives is extremely flawed and corrupt. It kind of reminded me a lot of a dystopian world but albeit a magical one. At the heart of the story is a girl who is trying to make an impact. Maybe we don't see a lot of it, but one must remember that this book is providing a foundation for things to come. 
 With regards to the MC, I did enjoy Elloren's character a lot. At the beginning, I did find her a bit weak and annoying but she grows on you. The author does do a lot of character development towards the end of the book. The minor characters were equally engaging and well rounded. I felt like they were integral to the progression of the plot and not just used as props. There were hints of romance within the story as well but it was not the main focus of the book which I appreciated because that would have detracted from the storyline. We do get a lot of character backstories and side plots, so it will be nice to see how things work on for each character that I have already come across. 
 In terms of plot pacing, I thought it was pretty brisk but I did find the book a tad bit long. Plus, I didn't see the point of a prologue at the start of each part. I'm guessing the author wanted to show things from another POV for the reader to be more in the know than the characters. But, I found it mildly irritating because I couldn't wrap my head around who some characters even were. I might have preferred slows reveals within the story itself. Besides this, the story did have a natural flow. The plot devices were aptly placed for progession. There were no jarring instances. There were some eye brow raising plot revelations but nothing too extreme. This book was more character driven than plot based. So, I look forward to reading the sequel and to see how the characters get out of the conundrums that they are facing. 
 Would I recommend this book? Yes, I would. Don't go based on the poor ratings to see if this book is good, read it for yourself. If you are looking for a dark fantasy, I'd recommend this one for sure.