4/5

For fans of: Prequels, high fantasy, enemies-to-lovers, morally grey characters, smut, mortal-immortal romance

Synopsis: Raised to be the savior of her people, Sera failed and doomed millions to slow starvation as the Rot creeps across the kingdom. Useless to her people, she becomes the Queen’s assassin to salvage what she can of her purpose. On a mission to take out some disrespectful foreign agents, she stumbles upon a mystery: gods secretly killing mortals and another god hot on their tail. Something about this god sparks something inside her, a memory or a purpose, a rightness. She may have found a way to save her people after all.

Review: Right off the bat, I loved this story. Sera is strong, feisty, and knows her world. While her upbringing may have broken weaker individuals, she thrives under pressure, but lets her mouth get the better of her. Especially when it comes to Ash, the god who is on a mission to solve this murder mystery. What starts as a murder mystery becomes so much more very quickly. I love the pacing of the story. I never once felt the need to skip pages of inner monologue or repetitive dialogue. The hot and cold nature of the main couple kept me on my toes as well. As a prequel to the From Blood and Ash series, it is really enjoyable seeing the events broadly described in the original series brought to life here. The world building is well paced so the reader doesn’t feel bogged down in details. Now, could the book have been edited down a bit, absolutely yes. But this world is far easier to access and the story is much more enjoyable than I expected. I can’t wait to see where we go next!