First of all I think that this book is amazing and has a complex plot. The book does a great job of showing personal character growth throughout their journey. One of the characters faces trauma from their childhood. Another of the main characters faces a different trauma as they were never good enough for their strict father who disapproved of everything they did. And our third main character who dealt with a childhood alone and feelings of homelessness as he is never truly accepted by the public. Throughout their journey they grow and overcome these problems and it is fun to read. The characters are alway super expressive and enjoyable to read about along with actually having personality unlike some characters in modern media. While I think that this is a good book I do have a couple of gripes with it. First, I feel like the book does a bad job of welcoming the reader into this unique fantasy world. Many places are mentioned but the characters never go there and not much happens there. Another important thing to notice is that the book uses many words that aren't real. The book includes a glossary near the end and I avoided reading it as I didn't want spoilers. This was a bad idea. I would recommend reading the glossary. One last thing to avoid is the map at the front of the book. It shows a much larger area then is covered in the book and confuses more than it helps. Overall I think it was a good book.
About This Book
The Kosa empire roils in tension, on the verge of being torn apart by a proletarian revolution between magic-endowed elites and the superstitious lower class, but seventeen-year-old Toma lives blissfully disconnected from the conflict in the empire with her adoptive family of benevolent undead.
When she meets Vanya, a charming commoner branded as a witch by his own neighbors, and the dethroned Tsar Mikhail himself, the unlikely trio bonds over trying to restore Mikhail’s magic and protect the empire from the revolutionary leader, Koschei, whose forces have stolen the castle. Vanya has his magic, and Mikhail has his title, but if Toma can’t dig deep and find her power in time, all of their lives will be at Koschei’s mercy.
A haunting fantasy following Toma, adopted daughter of the benevolent undead, making her way across a civil war-torn continent to save her younger sister as she discovers she might possess magical powers herself.
