Summary
After the publication of a salacious tell-all book, the remote city of Ilvernath is thrust into worldwide spotlight. Tourists, protesters, and reporters flock to its spellshops and ruins to witness an ancient curse unfold: every generation, seven families name a champion among them to compete in a tournament to the death. The winner awards their family exclusive control over the city’s high magick supply, the most powerful resource in the world.
In the past, the villainous Lowes have won nearly every tournament, and their champion is prepared to continue his family’s reign. But this year, thanks to the influence of their newfound notoriety, each of the champions has a means to win. Or better yet--a chance to rewrite their story.
But this is a story that must be penned in blood.
~Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Tor Teen for sending me the ARC in exchange for an honest review!~
*This is a spoiler-free review, so you can read it even if you haven’t read the book yet!*
"Monsters couldn’t harm you if you were a monster, too."
My Rating: 4 stars
Plot: The actual tournament part of the book didn’t start for a while which I liked because it gave more time for understanding the characters and world. It would seem that the plot really starts with the tournament, but even before, there’s plenty of suspense and conflict. Once the tournament does start, the plot quickens but there are still some nice moments with character development so it’s not too action-heavy.
Worldbuilding: The worldbuilding in this is absolutely amazing, and by that mean it was filled with details and history and secrets, but it wasn’t too info-dumpy either. There were explanations for the rules in the tournament and for the types of magic and curses used, as well as about the seven families that enter.
Characters: Since each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view, we get a deeper understanding of them.
Each of the characters was clearly different from the others and they all had their own backstories, family histories, and struggles. I found each of them to be complex and intriguing, with some sort of villain inside them, though they had different levels of villainy. The characters were complex because even though we were morally grey, they also seemed to have good inside them, and I wondered which side of them would ultimately win.
Writing:
I think the writing was really great! The suspense was creating really well and there were so many lines that are stood out to me as I was reading.
This was an exciting and intriguing book and I'm really looking forward to the next one!