I am not a big fantasy fan but I enjoyed this. I did feel it was kind of long (hey, I'm a 250ish kind of reader lol) and there were a TON of characters. 
 The story had me from the beginning with a great 1st line. I really liked the Saf, the main character but I really liked her best friend Iseult. There was romance in here but it wasn't in your face romance. 
 I'm not sure if I will read on in the series (especially since I'm guessing it won't be out until next year) but I will definitely have it in my collection to recommend it to students!