Dark? Maybe a dark romance... 
 I listened to the audiobook, and I'm not even kidding when I say that I started to get interested in the last fifteen minutes. I checked...legit that is when I was like "Ohhhh, well that's interesting." But it shouldn't have taken that long. The first chapter was pretty fascinating; learning about the Poisoner's strange traditions had me believing that this was going to be an epically sinister story. But then it all dropped away, and romances were introduced, and the sister's weren't as bloodthirsty as I had hoped. (Yes, sometimes I just want a good read about a lot of baddies. Is that too much to ask?) I was waiting for things to happen, and I mean they sort of did in those last couple of chapters. But overall, it wasn't as exciting as I had expected. 
 I also really wanted to know more of the history surrounding the peculiar tradition of killing sisters to gain the crown. How did this even become a thing? Why do they continue to live by this ritual? Also, who is running the place when all of this is happening? (TBH, that last question was probably answered, but I wasn't paying as close of attention as I should have...it was just boring!) And then there is the Mainland. Is that supposed to be our world? Is it a completely different fantasy world? 
 So many questions, and a lot of disappointment. 
 I won't be so quick to pick up the second book, but I have higher hopes for it because of the strange things at the end of this one. We'll see, though.