🖤 She had read enough stories to know that the princess and the monster were never the same. She had been alone long enough to know which one she was 🖤

This sumptuous fairytale was inspired by Persian folklore and you can sense the vast myth and legend that must have been drawn on to create this rich and luscious world. I was quickly drawn into the mythical kingdom of Atashar.

The lead, Soraya, a cursed princess who fears herself more than any monster she could ever dream of was an interesting and complex character. Some of the choices she made were darker than I would have expected and I very much enjoyed that! This story took me so many places I never expected it to go and it honestly had me guessing until the very end.

Considering this world was built in just one book, I felt like I could really see and feel it and this was thanks to the beautiful, intricate and descriptive language through the story. I would love to read another instalment of this.

3.75 stars


A great dark fairy tale,that has a lot to say about family,loyalty,trust and belonging.
The curse of having poison in your veins and unable to touch without killing,gets completely turned on its head in this book.
It's got a good strong central lead,and twists I didn't see coming a mile off.
It was exotic and exciting.
It also had way too many names beginning with S in. A minor grievance,but there were times it was too much all together.
I wasn't completely sold on the romantic side of things either.
But,mostly,this was a story full of wonders