I love it when a book has me fully engaged from the very beginning and doesn't let up, and even more when that comes paired with great characters and meaningful character development. The book is told in two perspectives—one is Mikira, a jockey who enters the race of her life for the sake of her family, and the other is Arielle, an unlicensed enchanter who is carrying a lot of secrets with her. The other two main characters don't get chapters from their perspectives, but I think that actually worked well here, since it leaves their motivations obscure, which is infinitely more interesting for the story. Reid was probably my favourite (grumpy on the outside, soft on the inside, what's not to love?), but I really appreciated Damien as well, and specifically how he treated Arielle.

There were moments here where the author could have chosen the path of hiding secrets upon secrets, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the characters be (somewhat, at least) open with each other about their difficulties. The relationships that develop between all of them were great—I especially loved the bond between Mikira and Arielle.

The races were a lot of fun to read about, although there are some dark moments there, and I would advice checking out the content warnings before picking this up.

There's a great balance between character/relationship development, exciting moments when the characters are scheming or racing for their lives, and a mystery subplot that looks like it'll get more page time in the sequel. I'm really excited to see how everything unravels.