The white saviour trope, for reference, is where a white character steps in to rescue non-white characters from their problems.

The characters were fantastic and the world building showed great potential but because these are dependent on the writing something was amiss. As secrets unravel about Legion's vicious past, questions rise over who has the true right to the throne. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. La autora me ha dejado con ganas de conocer más detalles sobre el mundo que ha creado y sobre el pasado del reino. What began as a jest with branches a few turns ago, had grown into a kind of weekly meet to fight, to be as our people—Timoran and Ettan alike—once were.The push and pull between them gave me Reylo vibes and I loved the Viking-inspired detail sprinkled throughout the book. I know this review was negative but I'm hoping the next book fixes a lot of these issues and it's just an issue of the first book.

I was initially engrossed in Elise's current circumstances, attempting to find her place in her Royal family and new news of suitors. At the end of the book we find the FMC and the MMC separated but you understand why even though the decisions might not be the best You can understand why they're in place and why they happened. Like, the author wanted a core group of friends to get that found family vibe but it didn't work at all.

Due to her fathers health he cannot do the negotiations and the King does not have time to do it either, so he assigns the task to the incredibly gorgeous and mysterious Legion Grey… Legion has secrets (and unknown to her but known to the reader he is cursed) and after events unfold Elise finds herself needing to make an impossible choice that could save Legion but comes with a great sacrifice. She’s not sure why, she knows he’s hiding something, but then she is hiding who she really is, she just doesn’t know it. As niece of the king, Elise Lysander cares about two things: sneaking into gambling dens, and avoiding an advantageous marriage at all costs. The FMC Elise is a member of the royal family, as much as it pains her to be sometimes, she’s good at staying quiet and knowing her place.

I am aware that fantasy worlds are obviously much different to reality - however the author has chosen clearly to include certain accurate elements of Viking culture. Whist at times it’s pretty easy to read and flows naturally, there are words and aspects thrown in that seem to have been taken from the Victorian Era that are not as commonly used. The book opens with our main character, Elise, sneaking into a gambling den dressed as a man to play a game of cards. They seemed like they went from "Ok, we can be friends after I felt betrayed by you" to " I love you, never leave me and I'll die for you! My last peeve with the writing was the fact that all the other characters could be referred to by their first name ALONE.I honestly feel like I’m rereading ‘Blood and Ash’, but the characters are posher and I constantly need a dictionary. And while this story is interesting (and the audio good enough), I’m not yet sold on this series nor the author’s talent of storytelling. There were moments of interest but the "poor me, no one treats me as a real person" whining by Elise got old. Author Note* Be prepared, these fairy tale retellings might begin as a slow burn romance, but the series progresses with the spice and steam.

A lot of their history is told, not shown through actual “history lessons” disguised as journal entries. The FMC is besties with her serfs, prefers being in the slums to her fancy royal life, and thinks everyone is equal because she treats them equally. There is something in his darkness that is pulling towards the light in Elise and he won’t let her slip through his fingers, no matter how hard she fights him. She had absolutely no reason to go back there even to get Mattus knowing that atthat time she could not trust Mattus's Uncle.I will say that with the book series having 7 books and this book being 350 pages it can be a lot and there are parts that are somewhat slow in the book but I don't think the book needs to be Shorter or any parts taken out becauyes there's so much back story going on that each part of the book is taking a step towards telling the story and I think it's needed. I didn't love the racism aspect of the book but it was handled well and I'm looking forward to seeing where the plot goes. I plan on giving book 2 a shot but I just don’t want to have my expectations of it being SPICIER be dashed. There is a reason I read books with the same tropes constantly, so it’s almost expected on some level I know what is going to happen. I really struggled to envision how the world looked as it read as a country at times or as a small city in others.