This book was actually AMAZING. I cannot recommend it enough!
Kiva is in a deadly prison where she's the prison healer, when suddenly the Rebel Queen arrives and Kiva volunteers to take her place in the Trials which will try to kill you in four different ways by air, fire, water, and earth. Not only does she receive unusual help in the trials, nothing is as it seems. This book has a magic, political dealings, royalty, and amazing characters.
Not only is this book absolutely unpredictable, where I could not guess a single thing that was going to happen; it has a massive plot twist at the end.
The writing style of the author is so easy and gripping; it will absolutely enthrall you into the story from the first few pages.
I cannot recommend this book enough, it's become one of my absolute favourites books and I cannot wait for the next book in the series. Absolutely addicting!

"Never forfet, little mouse: not two people look the same, but we are each beautiful in our ways. The human body is a masterpiece that deserves our respect, always".

Okay, first off, I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Netgalley and Hodder Publicity for providing me with an ARC to review.

I loved this book! I am definitely will be a physical copy of this book when it comes out and I can honestly say that I can’t wait to reread it when it comes.

This book is set within a prison (obvs with the name of the book) and there are some dark scenes woven in throughout the book, but I think it’s done very delicately (still a small trigger warning would be advised).

Kiva is a strong female character, and even though this book is written in her point of view, she still remains a mystery. The plot twists within this book are awesome, well one of them I guessed but the other I was like “huh” and I felt like I had to go reread the parts of the book to see if there were any hints.

The male protagonist was swoon worthy, and I adore his interactions with Kiva. Her character came kept him at arm's length and was a little dry towards him but he was not having it. Basically, he was super endearing and lovable.

I loved the side characters in this book too. Usually when I read a book, side characters don’t really grab my attention nor do I care about them that much- but here I just adored them and I even cried a little.

Basically, this book is for anyone who likes strong female characters, good banter, a mystery seeped within a mystery, stories about royals and morally grey characters.

I am super excited about the next book in the series (this book ends in a small/shocking cliff-hanger) - It was super fun to read

ARC received in exchange for an honest review, and honest I shall be.

What was this? This felt like a book written for 12 year old girls.
All the character and place names are weird, I mean that's ok but at least let them roll off the tongue. I mean 'Tilda'? (As in basmati rice??) Zalindov? Kiva? Stellan? The list goes on.. The characters themselves are tedious.

I didn't enjoy the narrative, quite 'block-y' and boy did it drag. This book was just SO CHEESY, I could feel myself getting more and more irritated with every turn of the page.

I could sense the upcoming terrible ending. The rebel-queen, Tilda, (I'm sorry I can't stop thinking of the long-grain rice) has to undergo four elemental challenges to free herself from the prison, 4 tasks that are apparently super difficult and nobody has ever completed before, BUT GUESS WHAT I BET SHE MIRACULOUSLY DOES! (It wasn't worth sticking around long enough to find out).

DNF'd about 20% of the way through.

0 stars.