A motley band — a squire, an assassin, an immortal — is the world's last hope against a tyrant tearing open doors between realms.
- Score
- 76.2
- Spice
- 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Sweet
- POV
- multi
- Ending
- HEA / HFN
Tropes
Content warnings
Curated signals, not an exhaustive guarantee.
If you liked this, read
What readers think
Readers consistently praise Aveyard's ambitious worldbuilding — the Spindle lore, diverse geography, and a genuinely compelling villain POV involving Taristan and Queen Erida are highlights. The ensemble cast is seen as a strength in concept, especially female characters with distinct motivations. Criticism is equally consistent: the pacing is slow, the 400-plus pages contain substantial info-dumping, the protagonist Corayne reads as passive compared to the supporting cast, and the five POVs occasionally fragment momentum rather than build it. Many readers found it a weaker debut than Red Queen but a worthwhile setup for the series.
Read it if
- · Fans of classic ensemble quest fantasy like Wheel of Time or Chronicles of Narnia who enjoy sprawling world-building
- · Readers who want high-stakes epic fantasy without heavy romance
- · YA readers ready to step into adult-feeling high fantasy with a diverse cast
Skip it if
- · You need a fast-paced plot — the first half is heavy on exposition and world setup
- · You want a strong central romance as a driver; this book has almost none
- · Multiple shifting POVs frustrate you — the book uses five third-person perspectives
If you liked this
- · For fans of Red Queen who want Aveyard's next chapter — high fantasy instead of dystopia
- · Like The Wheel of Time but YA-accessible, with a smaller scale and faster entry point
- · For fans of Six of Crows ensemble dynamics but with a more traditional quest structure
Which dark romantasy heroine are you? Five choices in a forest that wants you dead.
Take the quiz →