Air Awakens (Air Awakens Series Book 1)

http://functioninginsanity.blogspot.com/2015/11/air-awakens-by-elise-kova-beautiful-new.html Rating: 5 Stars Air Awakens is a high fantasy with all the best elements that pull the reading in instantly. We follow Vhalla, a library apprentice, who finds out despite being brought up to fear the Tower of Sorcerers that she has magic in her when she saves the life of the sorcerer Crown Prince Aldrik. She not just any power but the first of her kind in a very long time. Now she is pulled into this world of magic and has to make a decision to embrace her power and give away the only life she's known or eradicate her magic and remain her normal plain self. Taking time to make a decision sounds wise but indecision could cost a great price. I went into this story not knowing much about it other than seeing it mentioned on other blogs in the past and thinking then it sounded good, good enough to make a note to check out later. And that the cover looked pretty awesome. So when I was invited to join the read along I was down for it. Wanted to read it, check. Chatting with other readers while reading, check. Knocking out another book towards my goal in a structured time line to keep me on track, check. I was so in. I started strong but then got a bit behind but finished strong and having the ability to comment my thoughts as I went so amazing. Also having the author there as well commenting and sharing her thoughts about scenes that really stuck with you was great fun. One in particular I stopped reading to comment about because it just made me so happy. I have one particular pet peeve that can make or break a book for me and this one totally made my day. I won’t go into much detail but let’s just say that when someone does something horrible they aren’t just let off the hook without an explanation and apology. I was drawn in instantly to Vhalla’s life. She is low on the totem poll but she is an apprentice which sounds like one of the better jobs if I’m honest. She gets to spend her time hiding away ‘working’ and read. How does that not appear to the book loved in all of us? Her thirst for knowledge and stories made me relate to her and then when things went crazy from the start I was still there just as attached. I like the idea that magic is sort of taboo. Even the crown prince has it but those who don’t have it know little of it and like anything unknown it scares people. To find out something you feared is now inside of you, it rocks your world and coming to terms with it is hard. Vhalla really did go through so much but she still held her stubborn and strong willed self. Prince Aldrik was another one whom caught my attention. He is confusing to me. He has so many conflicting things going on and I’m skeptical so I was constantly on guard as to if I trusted him or not but that was half the fun that he was written in such a way. He’s not some perfect handsome prince who you instantly swoon over, he has darkness in him but at the same time there is something in him that still makes you want to swoon even if it might not be a good idea! So many other side characters that played a significant part in the story and each had their own personalities, and impossible to pronounce names *cough*, the story flew by. There is a lot happening in the story. Introducing many characters, building up the world we are in, understanding of magic, but you also have more going on in the background. Lots of little wheels turning and things happening. There are a few things I wish I had learned more about but even with questions I can see how they may have been left blank to be filled in later when they better fit the story and where it is going. With politics and royalty there is always the draw of intrigue and treachery. The writing was beautiful and compelling and made it I could talk about this book on and on but without ruining some of the best parts I’m finding it rather difficult. So I will leave you with it was amazing. I’m currently reading Fire Falling but I had to force myself to stop until I did this review so I wouldn’t lose myself and talk ahead! I highly recommend this book to everyone because it has something for everyone!

As an epic fantasy, this novel is a wonderful start. The magic is intriguing, the world is expansive and volatile, and Vhalla is an empathetic protagonist. This novel is obviously the set-up to a great fantasy though, as it moves a bit slowly. All the seeds are there, but Vhalla is reluctant for most of the novel to embrace the world of sorcery. Fortunately, even though the pace is slow, the novel is saved by Vhalla's interactions with Prince Aldrik - he is such a beautifully enigmatic character! The magic is not entirely explained either. It's really unclear why Air is seen as such a special, feared magic in Solaris. And why it's so rare. The knowledge is teased though, and it makes sense that not everything is explained at first, since Vhalla is so reluctant to take on her training. Vhalla gradually works through her prejudice by learning from books and from the more informed people around her, which made me like her even more, because it was wonderful to see her grow as a person in that way - by becoming more informed and open-minded. The complicated relationship she has with Aldrik really made this novel for me though. I loved the slow-burn romance, and the way the characters came to appreciate each other's intelligence and personality in spite of their reservations about the other. It was a swoony romance that pushed me to keep turning pages, as I needed to know how it turned out. I've read that this novel has elements of Cinderella and Phantom of the Opera - both stories that I think worked beautifully in the context of this fantasy and in the way the characters interacted with each other. Even though Vhalla was indecisive for much of this book, the beginnings of a strong, determined and fierce heroine is there, and I'm eager to find out how powerful she will become in the course of this series. This is an excellent and immersive fantasy read!

Wow. Just wow. This book first caught my eye while I was browsing Amazon for some new kindle books because of its cover art. I don’t tend to see a ton of drawn cover art, or maybe I have and I just haven’t really realized it, but regardless, this cover art was so beautiful that I had to click the link and find out what it was about. I read the blurb (which you can see above) and I was already drawn in. I loved the concept, I loved the main character’s name, and I loved that the main character was a book lover (aka library apprentice). So, I gave it a shot. And boy am I glad I did. First looking at the writing, it was beautiful. It was eloquent, it was mature, and it really drew you into the story. I find sometimes that bad writing can really distract me from the story itself, but Elise Kova’s writing was a siren that called me to keep reading until it was 2am and my exhaustion came second only to my desire to read more and learn what happened next. Partnered with her fabulous writing is her intriguing plot. I think we have all read the story where the book loving, low born girl falls in love with a hard headed prince, but Kova made it her own! The world she creates in this album was a piece of art, and everything in it had the distinct purpose of driving the plot and the character’s development forward. It sounds simple, but so many authors fall into the trap of writing fluff that is entertaining, but doesn’t do much for the story other than entertain the audience. And speaking of character development, another point goes to Elise Kova! While this was the first novel of the series, and not a ton of development is expected coming out of the starting gate, Kova surprised me by the amount of development we do see in Vhalla (our main character), and the dark and mysterious heir to the throne, Aldrik. Within the 350+ pages, we get a good first glimpse of who these characters might become as the story goes forward. Aldrik is desperate to let someone in, and by some twist of fate, Vhalla is put in a position where she can, and does. The author conveys so much emotion in these characters with so little effort, it is really something to behold. I expect more to come in the next instalment of the series, Fire Falling, and I can’t wait to see how not only the characters grow, but how the relationships between the characters grow as well. I am also excited to see how some of minor character’s in book 1 might grow to become more central! I absolutely love this kind of love story, the ones that start off with a not so pleasant relationship, but slowly turn into something more. Aldrik is such an arrogant jerk, and every girl loves the bad boy deep down. It’s always fascinating to see how those layers get exposed, and learning who the man is behind the arrogant exterior. We get a taste of that in Air Awakens, and I think it’s safe to say we can expect more as the series will move on. Overall, this was a great read. It was intriguing, enthralling, and it was excellently written. This is one of those cases where you really can judge a book by its cover! 5 stars for Air Awakens, and I encourage every YA fantasy reader to give Elise Kova’s debut novel a shot!

I bought this in November last year and didn't pick it up until now because I got the oddest feeling that I was going to love this series and with a little research, I discovered that the author was planning on publishing the next four books in February, April, and July of 2016 (which I thought was crazy because most authors release a new book in a series every one-three years, not in rapid succession with only a few months in between!) so I decided to wait to start reading until the whole series was released and I could read all the books in rapid succession, avoiding those dreaded periods of anticipation and waiting to find out what happens next. And god, am I glad I did! This was an excellent set up book! The world building is amazing and I loved the characters; I'm personally pretty picky about the way magic is presented in a story, but I liked this execution pretty well and was engrossed in the overall universe. Now, since this is the first of five books in a fantasy and only goes a bit over 300 pages, of course it suffers from that "build up, set up" syndrome where a lot of the novel has to be dedicated to creating the scenes necessary to allow understanding to occur within the reader at the expense of the story moving along from major plot point to plot point at a quick pace. We're given a lot of scenes where we get to see who Vhalla and Aldrick are, have them interact, see their relationship develop and change, get a feel for what's happening, and I think all this stuff is very important in a fantasy series because if a reader isn't given substance in a book, just the exoskeleton of events like an outline for a history class, they aren't going to want to read the rest because they can't connect with the characters or find reason to care about them and what's happening to them and around them. I hate it when books gloss over the important aspects of story telling (like character development and scene-setting and telling the history) just to get around to specific plot points and scenes that are generally considering the most appealing/engaging. Not every story is just non-stop action and war and bloodshed, so stories that skim everything else just to have as much focus on these things as possible can get so boring. The author certainly could have cut this book down and gotten us straight into the war by the end, but doing so would have cost the reader a lot of worthwhile character development and backstory and set up for what's to come. I'm really glad she didn't though! This book had all the necessary storytelling elements and the author made good decisions at every turn, deciding that readers deserved to get a fully immersive story and not one that was gutted to the bare minimum. The stuff covered in this book enriches the read with details and conversations and inner thoughts and conflicts and developments, which I liked. I feel primed to get into the next part of the story, the next arc. Which brings me to another quality thing I want to point out: this book doesn't cut itself off in such a way that you feel like book #1 and #2 could be bound together in one book and no one would ever know they were two separate books because they're formulated more like sections of the same continuing book and not individual installations of a longer, larger story. While the transition into book #2 seems like it'll be clean and straightforward, the way book #1 wraps up gives you the sense that this part of the story, this arc, has now concluded and that we're moving on to another arc, another section with new goals and obstacles to address. This book covers Vhalla leaving behind her identity as a normal girl and library apprentice to embrace her identity as a sorceress, which is wrapped up with a scene that showcases her accepting what she is and looking towards what's to come, so I imagine the next book will be about her coming into the role of solider now that she's (metaphorically) killed the girl who worked in a library in order to let the woman who's a sorceress be born. I quite like this format of book writing; it follows that more traditional, satisfying model of writing that has one major conflict resolved, leaving one or more other conflicts to be resolved in the following books in a continuing pattern until the large, final goal is achieved, which is much more fulfilling than reading a volumes/sections format. What other things were good? Well, outside of the character all being complex and interesting, I found the author to write beautifully and appropriately for a fantasy setting that's far removed from our modern world. The editing job was excellent, my physical copy was error free as far as my scrupulous eye could tell, which definitely makes the $14 price tag easier to swallow. There was nothing problematic about the content (like no blatant shows of sexism or racism or other such things that are normalized/romanticized/deemed okay), which was wonderful because I've read far too many books with problematic content that just repulsed and disgusted me so much because of the way it was used and regarded. This gets a thumbs up from this 21-year old social activist. And we get left with enough stuff unanswered or not closed up that there's a lot to wonder about while continuing along the story. It doesn't come across as a wholly predictable story; I got some feelings about a few things and am churning around some theories and predictions, which is always nice because while a predictable novel can be nice, it can also take away the fun of getting hit with a twist or the unexpected. Overall, I loved this book and I'm excited to see what happens next! I'm happy I picked up this book. Was finished in about five hours of reading and in a single sitting.

This epic is about the Royal family of the Solaris Empire, the common folks and elemental sorcerers. The emperor, which came from the western part of the empire, already had under his rule the eastern and the southern parts of the continent. Now he try to conquer also the northern part of the continent. Each part of the continent (North, South, East, and West) has a specific style and ethnicity. Place of origins are easily pointed out based on skin tone, hair color, eye color or speech patterns. Each part also, has it's own sorcerers with their unique elemental magic- The western - fire, the south - water, the north has earth and the east had air (but all their sorcerers had been persecuted, and no one left). The story of the east wasn't look strange when you take in your account the fear, the suspiciousness and the hate of the people that hadn't have the magic in them. It all started of course with the abusing of these powers.But even this days there are always people who born with a magical ability (regardless of their social status) and they are feared by most. The epire has its use for this people and as long as they live in a separate tower, far away from the public it was sufficient. More then this the eldest son of the emperor - Eldric - the crown prince was a very powerful and very feared fire sorcerer himself, as his mother came from the west. In this tower the people that their magical ability awakened taken to be trained to be much better and in control sorcerers. The tower exist in a physical closeness to the palace in the capital and its has a representative in the congress. The representative always took care to keep a low profile. In the beginning of the book we meet Vhalla Yarl , a library apprentice that just wanted to do her job, and to do it well. She and her father came from the east after the death of her mother in an epidemic illness. Her father serve as a guard of the palace and since young age put Vahlla to apprenticeship in the Library. Even she was working very hard Vahalla manages to read the many of the books there. As a poor common, the best that Vhalla will ever be able to hope for is perhaps ascending to be the Library Minister. All her world collapsed when, she learned she is a sorcerer and that has to learn how to control her powers. In a world that distrusted magic so much and especially Air magic that extinct long time ago as they considered too dangerous to exit. The turning point happened when she saves the crown prince only by sheer instinct and under the impression that he is his younger much more a charmer brother, Baldair,(the same golden prince that she had a crash on him since that day day that that he caught her when she fell from a high ladder in the library). So it's no wonder that like any normal person, she chooses denial. The problem is that her life is not her own anymore and everything start to change. Especially if Eldrik has any saying in this matter. Apparently she’s the first person in a century that has possessed the ability to use wind magic or the Last Windwalker. Generally I struggle a little with her character - she was a whiny, childish, and inconsistent. It was actually hard to believe she supposed to be 18. She thought herself very smart but rarely has a thought that isn't fed to her. She also tend to bursts into tears every couple chapters and didn't like to try at anything new. another thing that bother me was her body language - she speak while she's looking down at the ground, or whisper, or mumble while wringing her hands or pulling at her shirt(an annoying childish ticks). All that being said, I will note that the last couple of chapters have me hope for a more colorful Vhaala in the next book. And Aldrick's more complex personality is interesting so I will cautiously read book 2 and hope to be surprised. Crown Prince Aldrik, - he's complex, anti-social, dark, handsome, brooding, snarky and clever, heir to the throne sorcerer. He is not an open book. He claims he is not a good guy. Prince Baldair, is the golden boy. As the second son by a different mother (After the death of Eldrik mother, his father the emperor took a second wife this time from the south) and secure in his statues as a none magical person and as the prince who isn't indirect line to the crown, Baldair invest most his time as ladies man, and as the charming prince. He take care to lives up to his reputation and leave behind him many broken hearts . It's look like that he is quite the opposite of his brother. But Baldair easy way can be misleading.As he know his advantages,he does not hesitate to use it to manipulates things around him. I think that sometimes his character has more depths and dimensions then his brother and sometimes it is very hard to know what to think about him. The relationships between the brothers are complicate and they swing between love and hate, But both of them will always stand for each other, one way or another. Overall, I enjoyed this book it was very engaging fantasy novel and I am looking forward to the rest of the series

Air Awakens is a story that quickly escalates into multiple love affairs that truly have no business being anything other than a cloud that shrouds a potentially great story because when it actually tries to reach beyond all the sappy romance, the plot line achieves something genuinely good. That said, Air Awakens was far too preoccupied with silly romantic clichés and left me with a lot to be desired; thus, the book was just okay for me. ___________________________________ WHAT I LIKED + Air Awakens started off strong and with one of my favorite tropes! That being, the interwoven delicacies of a tragic hero who has the potential for heroism but never quite fulfills that promise because they become a victim of tragedy ― and let me just say that the tragedy surrounding our protagonist is no meager fatal flaw, it is heartrending! I was gripped and moved not simply because of all the adversity that befalls poor, Vhalla, but because hers is the type of character arc that reminds us of our human frailty and inability to defeat evil forces despite our good morals ― and this is by far what made the overarching story line so affecting and oh so good. + It behooves me to say that only one character managed to truly win me over and it was not our protagonist, Vhalla Yarl ― which is surprising in view of how much I thoroughly enjoyed the tragedy surrounding her character arc, but I’ll get to more of this in a minute. The character I want to place the focus on now is Prince Aldrik who, in truth, is the best character in Air Awakens thus far! Driven by an unknown agenda, his character arc really gave the story a lot of depth and a sort of mysterious intrigue. Too, Prince Aldrik is the quiet strength behind Air Awakens and I found myself wishing that Vhalla matched his depth. THINGS THAT MADE GO HMMM. . . - Whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the tragic hero trope, sadly, Vhalla was not a character that quite grew on me in fact, I was rather vexed with many of her attributes; her main and foremost hamartia being her apologetic and self-deprecating expressions and demeanor; ugh! Granted, I understand that life has been unfair and reasonably brutal for Vhalla, but to heap the blame for everything in the world for the sake of “modesty” and “humility” ― not to mention, the continual self-abasement ― was a bit too much to swallow and really grated on the nerves. As a result, Vhalla came across as a sort of doormat and not a prominent protagonist. - Essentially speaking, character development is the very core of Air Awakens as it decides to dedicate more than 90% of its storyline on a romantic plotline between not 2, not 3, but 4 characters! Yes, you read that correctly, a “love square” is what Air Awakens serves its audience. Even less appealing are the unnatural ways the characters interact with each other and how their personalities consisted of a few exaggerated traits. (view spoiler). And yet, what I couldn’t take in, was the way Vhalla stood utterly defeated in every situation allowing these men to easily take advantage of her ― and need I mention how incredibly painful and plodding it is to read a plot where every male in the book falls in love with the protagonist? - To boot, often times it felt as though the author attempted to manipulate my feelings or pull on a few strings of the heart all for the sake of “the feels.” While I appreciate the effort, this plot device was not very compelling and as a result, Vhalla’s painful story arc seemed less significant and unappealing. - Lastly, I was extremely displeased that the author didn’t allow the characters room to make decisions for themselves. What I mean to say is, they felt more like puppets rather than characters so richly observed you can’t help but to sympathize with them. It goes without saying that this (and all the aforementioned) is what sorely affected my overall rating of the book. AFTERTHOUGHTS Nevertheless, please do not allow my low rating of Air Awakens fool you; the book isn’t terribly bad. I simply expected more for a fantasy novel but received a sappy romantic prose instead. It just would have been epic to have seen more of the political intricacies of the court life and fantastical elements in Air Awakens, because when Elise Kova ultimately begins to unravel this aspect of the plotline in the last few chapters of the book, the story held great potential! I would also like to mention that because Air Awakens is remarkably comparable to that of Shadow and Bone and Avatar the Last Airbender (two of my all-time favorite story arcs) my rating was brought down a notch; otherwise, this would have easily been a 3 sparrowhawk rating. Aaaand since I already purchased the second book, I will more than likely continue with the series.

4,5 stars. Air Awakens kept popping up in my recommendations at Goodreads, and although I had initially DNF’ed my Kindle-sample, the growing hype caught my interest, and I ended up enjoying the story immensely. Our protagonist, 17-year-old Vhalla Yarl, is an apprentice at the imperial library. The story takes its beginning with Vhalla being summoned late one night, in order to scour the library for information on certain magic and poisons along with her fellow apprentices. One of the princes has been severely wounded in combat, and Vhalla, believing that the prince in question is Baldair, whom she has a small crush on, gives everything she has in order to help save him. It turns out, however, that the person in question is the crown prince, Aldrik. In contrast to his younger brother’s easygoing, charming nature, Aldrik is reputedly snobbish, manipulative and ruthless, and people tend to fear him due to his magical powers. While struggling to save the prince, Vhalla was inadvertently drawing upon magical abilities she didn’t know she had, unaware that she has created a bond between Aldrik and herself. From this point on, the two characters are inescapably linked. Having all sorts of prejudices against magic and sorcerers, Vhalla struggles to accept the fact that she’s a sorcerer herself. She’s torn between the need to stay in her comfort zone, and the need to satisfy her curiosity. As scary as the prospect is of leaving her library apprenticeship for a life working, living and training as a sorcerer, Vhalla can’t help being drawn into this new and intriguing world, when the crown prince takes it upon himself to become her mentor. As it turns out, it’s a path fraught with difficulties and Vhalla soon discovers that she, being the first Windwalker in a very long time, attracts the attention of people, who see her as a nothing other than a potential danger or a tool to be used in the service of the Empire Solaris. My thoughts: In Air Awakens, magical powers are aligned with the elements of earth (Groundbreakers), fire (Firebearers), water (Waterrunners) and air (Windwalkers). Vhalla is the first known Airwalker to have her powers awaken in almost 150 years. Aldrik is a Firebearer. He’s powerful, skilled and has an extensive knowledge of magic. It is through his teaching that Vhalla begins to understand her magic. The magical system is not particularly innovative - the idea of the elemental alignment is quite common, as is the concept of the unbreakable bond (magical or otherwise). However, it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story, as the system functions in an elegant, seamless way, and although the characters do talk about magical theory from time to time, it isn’t the prime focus of the story. The social perception of magic does, however, play a significant role in the development of the plot. In the south, where the capital (and the castle) is located, people tend to view sorcery with wariness and in some cases even fear and contempt. In other parts of the realm (most prominently in the West), sorcerers are in held much higher regard. Bearing in mind that all Windwalkers (at least the ones who were known to be such) were imprisoned and executed 150 years prior to Vhalla’s awakening, and that she’s the first one to emerge since then, she’s even more likely than any other type of sorcerer to become the target of prejudice and distrust. The latent threat becomes more pronounced as the story progresses, although Vhalla has the firm support of the other sorcerers of the Tower. The “magic is outlawed” or “magic is viewed as suspect” trope is quite common in fantasy literature these days, Throne of Glass and The Orphan Queen being examples. That's not a problem, though - I rather like the dynamic it creates in this particular story: as Vhalla begins to reconsider her own opinion of sorcery, while becoming even more of an outsider in her own circle of friends and co-apprentices (and later on in society at large), her character develops and becomes much more complex and interesting. By being forced to adapt and recreate her sense of self, Vhalla becomes very relatable and appealing. The relationship between Aldrik and Vhalla is one of the things I like the best about this story. The romance is nice and slow-burning. Aldrik has the “bad boy vibe”, but Kova lets him grow into a much more vulnerable, caring and empathic character, as he becomes enthralled with Vhalla and her openminded, trusting way of being. Due to the fact that the story is told with Vhalla as viewpoint character, much of Aldrik’s plotting and reasoning is hidden from her (and us), which makes for some interesting revelations along the way! There’s very little I didn’t like about this book. There is, however, the matter of Sareem - Vhalla’s colleague at the imperial library. He seems like a nice guy, although he gives Vhalla a bit of a hard time when she reveals her magical abilities to him, but she ends up treating him really poorly, and I actually liked her less because of that. I understand that a character needs to be flawed in some way for them to be able to grow, but some of Vhalla’s choices in regard to Sareem just made her seem indecisive in a very juvenile, spineless manner. She does improve, though, so it’s a somewhat minor matter. Also, I had some troubles with the pacing, which was somewhat inconsistent. It became apparent when I read the sequel, Fire Falling, that much more time had passed during AA than I'd expected. It made for some confusion, but it's not something which ruins my grasp of the plot. All in all: Air Awakens is a finely crafted, emotionally engaging (even for an old fart like me) fantasy novel, which had me flipping pages frantically. Kudos to Elise Kova for such a kick-ass debut! :)

I had seen this book on so many blogs I follow, and most/all of them raved about it. As a fantasy-fan, I couldn’t just let that pass. I had to read it too! Overall, I’m glad I followed my gut and went along with the great reviews. I really did like it -but I wasn’t as in love with it as others perhaps were. WORLD Obviously, I can’t write about the magic and world of this book without mentioning Avatar. Like Avatar, the magic in this world is centered around the elements: air, water, fire and earth. I think every elemental book, TV show or movie will forever be compared to Avatar. Sorry, people. I won’t tell you too much, but suffice it to say that the similarities extend quite far. For those who’ve read it, do you agree with me? I so badly want to explain what I mean, but I can’t without spoiling anything. I do wish I knew more about the history of the world. I’m guessing that will be explored more in the following books? To be honest, it’s been only about a month since I read this book -maybe a tad more- but I already don’t remember too much about the world. I remember the magic, the court, the city, the library, the gardens of where the bulk of the story plays out. But not much more than that. PLOT I’m happy to say I quite enjoyed the journey this book took me on. I do think it took quite a bit of time for Vhalla to embrace herself -all the aspects of herself- fully. But while reading, I never felt like a lot of time had passed (in real life). I hope you know what I mean, but sometimes while I read I think: “it feels like I have been reading for a long time, yet I’m not that much further in the story”. Have you ever had that? Anyway, that didn’t happen here. I found myself reading huge chunks of this one per sitting. I was definitely captivated and interested in the story line. Politics were also very prominent in this book. That’s (almost) always a positive for me, because I love reading books with scheming characters, intricate plots and backstabbing. I’m always trying to figure out who to trust, who’s just putting on a nice face and so on. It always manages to captivate me. CHARACTERS From the beginning, I quite like Vhalla. At first, because she loves books and works in the library. Also because she asks questions, and values being smart. But I have to admit that at times I thought it took her a long time to take action, or to make up her mind. Yet overall, I thought she was a strong and interesting woman, and I’m definitely interested in reading more of her story. Of course she’s not the only character. I was also interested in both the princes. Mostly because like I said before, I love trying to figure out who is actually a good guy on the inside, and not only projecting to be one. Did I think the characters were perfect? Of course not. But flawed characters are the best -and most realistic- in my opinion. Did it take me a while to really feel the romance? Yes. Because people should not throw others from buildings. That’s just my opinion. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I’ll definitely continue the series. If you’re interested in this series -even in the slightest- I’d urge you to give it a go. The Kindle copies really aren’t expensive AT ALL.