Overall, I think this book was well-written and interesting. The plot was good and while it was stretched out throughout this relatively long book, there was enough action between events to keep the reader engaged.

The thing keeping this book from being a great book was the characters. While the characters are developed to some extent with various backstories, I didn’t really feel like they were really fleshed out, especially the female characters. Joelle’s character was a huge let down for me, because she really just served as a love interest for Hyam. I was fascinated with her backstory (which I have learned is also told in the ebook, The Captive, which may be worth checking out), yet throughout nearly half of the book she is locked up and doesn’t really do anything. Even once she gets out, I feel like the person who could have been a really powerful female character is pushed to the side to pretty much just help Hyam along the way, mostly by assisting Trace with magic. I did really like Meda’s character and would have loved to learn more about her.

The story was good, but the characters just weren’t enough for me. Overall, a decent book with enough magic and mysticism to keep things interesting.