I did not enjoy this book, although look at the ratings all the books in the series have! 
 I honestly thought that I would be picking up another enthralling read and that the series would be a good read, and I was sadly mistaken. 
 The story itself was adequate and lacked a lot of world-building. First of all, I wanted a deep historical explanation to the mages and the healers and the source of their powers. I also wanted to understand the basis of the nine realms (or was it thirteen? I can't remember..) and why they went to war with one another. I am sure something such as the plague couldn't have possibly been a good enough reason for them all to start warring against each other.. 
 When Avry joins Kerrick and the men and goes on the journey to rescue that sleeping-beauty prince whatever, I honestly lost track of the events. These chapters were excruciatingly long, detailed and BORING! I wanted more action! More explanations! More theories on Death Lilies and Peace Lilies! 
 See! The story had so many good ideas but unfortunately the author did not focus on any of them! 
 And then Avry gets captured by that Thorn guy and things really get annoying here. First of all, I hated the disgustingly intimate ways that Thorn would manipulate Avry by. In addition, he was so full of himself that he failed as an interesting character. 
 The castle itself had so many interesting areas that the author could have focused on to make the story much more interesting. 
 Also, I absolutely did NOT understand the concept between a Life mage and a Death mage and still don't understand how that Sepp guy managed to keep Ryne in a not-dead-not-alive state.. 
 and how Thorn was able to command those weird soldiers.. 
 When am I going to find a good-enough series to pursue? 
 I am not continuing this series.. I've given up..