2.5 stars 
 I swear, if you were to play a drinking game to how many times the love interests name was mentioned followed by angst, you would die of alcohol poisoning. 
 "At her hip was her sword, and on her wrists were her knives. Her spine was steel. Her heart was armor. Her eyes were fire" 
 That quote sounds great right? You'd think that she were some warrior fighting for her country, making difficult decisions. 
 Wrong! 
 Meet Lada, she's practically the princes and her brother body guard. She doesn't kill in battle, because she doesn't go to battle! Lada only does everything out of protection and self defense. 
 Not that I want her to murder innocent people, but I did expect more action scenes where these moves would be required. 
 I think many people ignored this part of the description, or assumed it wasn't a main part of the novel: 
 "Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan's son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point" 
 Yes, that was part of the description and in every chapter you will hear the name Mehmed and me silently screaming as I pull my hair out. 
 His name was mentioned for the majority of the novel, the sibling relationship ruined over this guy, our MC putting aside her plans for this guy, our other main character crying every night over this guy. 
 Fighting? for the this guy 
 Walking?Thinking about this guy 
 Training?Thinking about this guy 
 THEY DON'T SPEND EVERY SECOND WITH HIM, BUT THEY SURE DO THINK OF HIM EVERY SECOND. 
 Since I consider myself to be a fair reviewer, I made sure to keep a death count and mark the pages with actions scenes, or when the pace started to pick up. 
 For the first 43% she was around 12-13 years old. Her maturity level, if anything was much higher at that age. Yes she responded with violence quickly, but she didn't lose sight of her goals. 
 To start with, we got to see a young girl who'd do anything to protect her brother and kingdom. This was the Lada that wouldn't hesitate to hurt anyone who got in her way. 
 Then puberty happened... 
 She was fundamentally still the same girl, but the plot took a lesser optic. 
 The next pages were merely just politics, threats, and character development. 
 But mostly just politics. 
 Action sequences only lasted a paragraph, followed by a chapter of excitement. 
 This is a demonstration of how it felt: 
 If I'm correct, her kill count was four. All were done under self defense, and she isn't as heartless as sought to be. 
 After her first kill, Lada was in shock, her brother described her as shaking and frightened. 
 Is that a normal response? 
 Yes. 
 This concludes me to think, no she does not have a gentle heart, but she does have a conscious. Lada doesn't want to particularly kill anyone, but she will do what she must. 
 Things started to pick up again at 92% and conclude at 95%.(not an estimate, this was actually marked) 
 Now that doesn't sound 
 too bad 
 , then again, compared to the brooding, it barely made up for anything. 
 Also, let me inform you, that was most probably the longest "battle" scene in this novel. 
 You see, I am trying to be fair and honest, minus the snark. 
 There were amazing quotes like these that always brought me back: 
 "Souls and thrones are irreconcilable." 
 "I cannot afford to lose you." 
 "You cannot lose something you do not own." 
 If only more female leads thought this way. 
 My dilemma was that BOTH main characters were whining about the same guy. Yes, they're fourteen to fifteen years old, but if you describe an MC as "brutal", then that should be demonstrated more than the self-pity. 
 "Why was she still here 
 The question did not seem to exist when she was alone with Mehmed, but as soon as he was gone it covered her like boils, an itching plague upon her soul. Why was she still here? What had become of the girl who was the daughter of the dragon? Was this it, then? Had she reached the pinnacle of her potential? A command of fifty men in service of a man she loved, who ruled an empire she loathed? 
 Yes I'm curious why are you still here? 
 At some point she wanted to leave so she could actually do something, and I'm here like: 
 Guess what happened? 
 I couldn't go a chapter without someone mentioning the love interests name. 
 You know when a main character meets a guy and forgets all her plans/priorities? 
 That is what happened. 
 My other complaint was that Lada didn't like anyone of her own gender. Understandable, since in this culture women are thought to be beneath men. Yet the problem was, no matter how many times someone tried to explain how strong women were in many ways, Lada wouldn't take it. 
 She despised speaking to any females and thought of anyone who didn't fight with swords as weak. 
 I looked over this and my rating was not affected by it, though it was sufficiently tiresome. 
 Towards the end Lada did seem to accept her gender and not despise other females, yet I never saw her attempt to train women to fight along side her. 
 She could of done it. 
 This was marketed as similar to GoT and I'm honestly left like... 
 Where?? 
 Would I recommend this to anyone? 
 It depends on what you can withstand. If you have high expectations and can't stand brooding/love triangles, then isn't for you. 
 If you can get past the pace and angst, then you might enjoy this one. 
 The ending promised action in the next novels, but I assure you there will still be whining over the romantic interest. 
 Overall thoughts: 
 The author was wonderful with her dialogue. Her writing was lovely, but everything fell flat to my expectations.