Member Review

Princess Aella has more than one secret, and all of them put her in danger. Trained by the Aviary to be a professional spy for her kingdom, she believes she's ready to take on any mission as a Songbird on the most elite team of assassins. Except that not only is the mission to pretend to be the princess she really is to compete in deadly trials to win the hand of the neighboring kingdom's prince, the mission is also led by the one man who holds her heart, despite it being forbidden. Aella must decide if she wants to live life as a Songbird who follows orders and rules, or if she's ready to defy it all and live for herself.

I'm giving this one 3.5 stars. Aella is an interesting character who finds herself in an intriguing position that forces to lie to everyone about everything at all times. You discover that she even lies to herself, which makes her decisions make a lot of sense. The love interest, Raven, could have benefited from more character development, but I get the feeling that the mystery is part of the allure and that it might pay off in future volumes. In fact, many characters feel like they're being placed on the board for future moves instead of getting developed for this first part of the story. It makes for an intriguing plot when you're unsure of absolutely everything, but it's also not my favorite style of storytelling.

My main complaint is that it gets a little too violent for my tastes when it comes to the things the heroine has to go through. It's nothing super graphic, but I don't see the point of physical and mental torture on the page. I'm also a tad mad at the cliffhanger ending. WTH?!? You can't just drop the story there! I get that it's the first in the series and you need to keep interest, but did it have to be like that?

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the intriguing read!