Leiyn is a Ranger, raised in the wilds and taught the arts of survival on the edges of a frontier. She and her fellow rangers live in a world full of magic, of massive elemental titans and magical lifeforces. But Leiyn has been taught to revile this magic. To her, it is a curse and a sin, despite the power within her that is kept carefully locked away.

When tragedy strikes and Leiyn is forced to leave behind everything she has known, she will not only be asked to put her skills of survival to the test, but also to challenge deeply held beliefs about everything she thinks she knows.

My favorite part of this book was undoubtedly the magic and the elemental creatures that Rosell built his world around. Using magic has strong consequences, and is something of a vampiric system. The elemental titans that rise from the earth and the water of the world pull on the nostalgic strings of games like Shadow of the Colossus.

There is a fairly balanced cast of characters, although I did find several of them to be less nuanced than I would have liked. Found family is a strong theme in this novel, and that includes a found family that Leiyn must protect out of necessity rather than affection.

The book is written in an easy, accessible style with lots of descriptions of the world and locations that the cast travels through.

I didn't particularly jive with Leiyn as a protagonist, which was one of the reasons I found it difficult to immerse in the story. There were several points where I felt that she leaned more toward plot-driven than character-driven.

The artwork in this book is absolutely stunning, and Rosell's worldbuilding and descriptions lift from the page and come to life in the illustrations. The theme of nature vs. mankind are well done in this story, and Rosell also dives into the struggle of division between ethnicities within the world. Overall, a good, fast-paced read with a lot of familiar archetypes and story arcs, and a beautifully described and utilized magic system.