**Thank you to Hachette Australia and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of the book in return for an honest review. 
 3.5 - 4 stars!!! 
 As a fan of Renee Ahdieh, this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. As always I adored her style of writing but I guess I was comparing this one to "The Wrath and the Dawn" duology, so the story left me a little deflated. The reason for this was mostly because the worldbuidling was less descriptive and overall, it more slower paced. I guess this book was based more on character development and was focused on setting up the plot as a whole. However, this does not mean that I didn't enjoy the novel. I just didn't as much as her previous work. 
 With regards to the characters, I found the MC Mariko to be rather engaging at the beginning of the story but I didn't feel as though she developed much. She is quite an independent sort of girl who knows her own mind. I liked that she was trying to get out of the box that she had been put into. As a woman, she wanted to break ground in an area that would have actually been impossible to. However, as the story progressed, I found her to be a tad bit irritating as she constantly just focuses on herself and seems to get away with the most silliest of things. 
 The romance, on the other hand, was more of a slow burn but I didn't really get the chemistry. Plus I felt like she used her position as a woman to manipulate things. It wasn't the epic kind of romance that I was looking for. It lacked the feels and emotions that I expected from a novel by this author. I did, however, like the aspect of friendship, honour and sibling relationship within the book. 
 There was a lot of references to the culture, politics and such which was relevant and refreshing. I applaud the author for maintaining authenticity in this regard. I also loved how the story was set in feudal Japan. Well, since it is a loose Mulan retelling that would explain it. But it was still interesting to read the descriptions regarding that world and how the samurais lived. I also did like the fact that the book did have a smidge of magic thrown in but it's not in your face. You catch glimpses in it throughout the story. 
 So, would I recommend reading this book? Yes, I would. But be prepared for something a little different than "The Wrath and the Dawn". That's one mistake which I made. I look forward to reading the sequel and seeing more character development. Maybe we'll also see more immersive worldbuilding because that's one element I missed out on a lot in this novel.