Synopsis:
Lyra Izacalli does not clutch onto the jagged remnants of her past—she buries them deep beneath her skin.
To feel is to give power to the past—to let grief and memory carve through her like a blade. But Lyra refuses to let them win. She will not let the sharpened words of men who call themselves nobles and kings cut deeper than they deserve. If they cannot wound her, they cannot control her. And if they cannot control her, then freedom is hers to claim—despite her feeling anything but free. But when an unexpected opportunity arises, Lyra is thrust into the deadly entrance exams of an elite academy, where only nobility thrive. But first, she must strike a blood wager with a capricious king—one that could win Lyra her freedom or cost her life… if the exams don’t kill her first.
A world that rejects her. A forgotten journal that will redefine her. A band of dangerous wielders that hunt her. And then there is him—the one who found her, who should have been nothing more than a mentor—the person to unravel her.
But Lyra is not here for love. She is here to win. And as the walls she has spent years fortifying begin to fracture as truth after daunting truth break free—
The world will come to understand…
A girl who refuses to lose does not break.
Review:
When two of my favourite BookTubers recommended this series, I knew I had to read it.
Lyra is a captive night attendant serving a cruel king. To escape her servitude, Lyra strikes a high-stakes blood wager which can either win her complete freedom or cost her life.
See, the trouble I have always found is neither right nor wrong point true. It is the storyteller who gives those two words direction. So, I can’t help but sit and wonder… What if we read the story without the titles? Who would we deem the villain? If we were privy to the reasonings behind every action, would we deem anyone a villain? Perhaps we would instead discover what broke.
First of all, the PLATONIC relationships mean everything to me. I was worried this was being set up as a love triangle. How wrong I was and I LOVED it.
The romantic interest is predictable, dark and grumpy except for with her. It is pretty insta love (soulmate kind without ever using that word), but I was glad that it was more emotional than physical and lust forward.
There are trials, there are monstrous creatures, there is magic, there are prophecies, a plotting cult, and found family.
The writing is very easy to binge with moments of beautiful sentiments.
”It’s just if you think broken things always remain weaker, you should really learn more about plants. A stem snapped clean in half, when given proper care, can mend into a more resilient version of itself.”
I do hate the plot device of finding out key information through a journal because WHY can’t the heroine just finish it in one-sitting rather than dragging it out throughout an extended timeline to match the book’s climax and reveal?
I have already read book two and I can tell you that the world building, lore, and secrets just expand… and explode.
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