There are so many glowing reviews for this book already so I'll keep this review short. 
 I loved it. LOVED. IT. The plot is well paced. I never felt like there was a slow narrative or like it was dragging in spots. By the time I finished, I had a fairly comprehensive understanding of how the world works. The characters are magical. I love Safiya and Iseult. Their friendship is the best thing about this book. I think female friendship in its purest and healthiest form isn't explored nearly enough in YA literature, and their friendship is everything I wanted it to be. They love each other dearly and put each other first, always. Not only do they have a deeply supportive relationship, both are these girls are tough and strong. They kick ass. They both have their flaws, but they complement each other. I can't rave about it enough. If I could talk about one thing this book does better than most YA books right now, it would be how this friendship is portrayed. 
 As far as side characters go, I really like Merick. There's a lot of promise for Aeduan to grow into someone I like; he has the most character development here. Dennard surprised me with how well she could grab me with the minor characters. They all had a purpose, and they were all uniquely and clearly written. The characters that needed to be fleshed out were fleshed out; the characters that are going to play a bigger role later on are teased enough throughout the book to peak my interest. The relationships between those minor characters and the main ones was also very well done. It felt genuine and realistic. 
 The last 50 pages were gut-wrenching. A lot goes down. Each character has a particular moment that makes my heart hurt so much for them. It's hard to pick which one hit me the hardest but Safi definitely had a moment that made me question whether this book was going to force a couple tears out of me. The conclusion was excellent. I'm REALLY excited for the next one. It's still early, but this may be one of my top picks of the year.