Hello, new fun source of mixed feelings! I liked parts of this book so much, but then there were entire chapters that made me struggle to stay focus—always an interesting combination. 

At its heart, this is the sort of enemies-to-lovers + arranged marriage story where the MC marries an alleged villain for the sake of her country and then discovers that her husband is in fact *not* the villain of the story. It’s also far more worldbuilding-heavy than an average romantasy, I feel, with a lot of politics that are handled in really cool, realistic ways. It is rare that I see the links between climate, trade, and warfare in the context of foreign relations explored so well outside of history- or politics-focused non-fiction. Alongside the evocative descriptions of jungles and snakes, this made the setting feel very real. I also generally liked the geography of this world, with the continents connected with a huge bridge and how control over this bridge is a mixed blessing for a specific country. 

Much as I’m happy to sing praises to the worldbuilding itself, however, I have problems with how it’s delivered and how it’s interwoven with the central relationship plot thread. The more world-focused bits are almost universally dense, infodump-y, and often involve stuff happening elsewhere and the characters talking/reminiscing about it later. Meanwhile, Lara and Aren’s interactions where they get to know each other and eventually catch feelings are all pretty action-y, emotional, full of banter and cool cinematic moments. Even though their relationship very much exists in the context of the world’s politics (and their marriage, in turn, directly affects the political plot/is a part of it), this duality of approaches kept creating that “am I actually reading two separate books?” feeling. It also sometimes just felt jarring—kind of like, imagine reading a contemporary romance, and you’re all invested in the relationship, and then suddenly there’s a transcript of the daily news the characters watch together to get caught up on the world’s affairs, followed by a summary of a New York Times or Reuters analytical piece about one of the ongoing conflicts around the globe. This felt like that, but fantasy.

As far as the romance is concerned, I really enjoyed the development of it. It’s a slow burn, and there’s all that extra tension around Lara concealing the fact that she’s a spy and Aren being pretty sure she’s probably a spy. The start was rocky, the subsequent developments grew on me fast, and I think they complement each other really well as people. I liked all the subtle comparing and contrasting between them, and how the secondary characters surrounding Aren all helped, with their reactions and interactions with him, show who he is as a person. His care for his desire to create a better future for his people even when he was told he’s being too idealistic really resonated with me. 

Lara, for her part, absolutely captured my heart at the beginning of the book, showing herself as badass, capable, courageous, and smart. That first scene immediately had me invested in her journey. Unfortunately, later on that perception kind of faltered, because at key points of the plot she kept stubbornly refusing to display those qualities to recognize what was actually happening. She started off openly showcasing a degree of defiance to her father and a complete willingness to accept that he’s capable of heinous things, but then as soon as she was away from him, she was constantly like, “No, he wouldn’t lie, he cares for his people, etc.” And I kind of get how this can co-exist with what she shows early on: indoctrination, trauma, etc would do that. But those scenes aren’t written as that specific brand of mental gymnastics at all, so this is my assumption of what might have been happening there, not anything the book explicitly told or showed me. Instead, Lara’s behavior felt like she suddenly lost half of her abilities and experience whenever that one specific subject came up, making the stalling for the reveal feel artificial. 

The ending in the book, in many ways, was a punch in the gut. I really liked how the final twist was handled, and the way it echoed the beginning of the book and made it so that the first choice the MC made in the book led very directly to the final problem.  I liked how it came right when things were settling down, too, making me feel like we’re in the “wrapping up the final threads” territory while wondering why there were a bit too many pages left—would the final part end up dragging? OH NO, THE OPPOSITE. With a cliffhanger like that, I’ll be definitely picking up the next book.