Published: Feb 24, 2015 by Scholastic
Format: Audiobook, 9 hours, Narrated by Amy Shiels

“I’ve learned that being alone and being lonely are not the same thing. Once I was surrounded by people and lonely for it, but now I’m alone and I’ve never been so content.”

★★★ (2.8 / 5 stars) First of all, I REALLY enjoyed the narrator for this audiobook. I hope to find more novels read by her because her voice was just so solemn yet pleasant to listen to, and the non-American accent was so nice to hear as well.

Regarding the book itself, I have to say I started out really liking the story. Many have complained about the slow pace, but because I enjoyed listening to the narrator so much, I did not mind the pace At. All. However, this book kind of got worse as it went. I loved the premise, and the start of Twylla's journey at the kingdom was compelling to me.

But the romance seemed to take a deep dive all of a sudden (instead of a steady build), and the ultimate plot twists at the end just made me roll my eyes. Also, WHY DID SHE NOT WEAR GLOVES? I mean, my suspension of disbelief can only go so far with this whole I'll-poison-and-kill-you-with-one-touch thing.

Also, the prince's character was ESPECIALLY confusing to me. I still don't understand who he is, why he does the things he does, or what he'll do next. His entire personality seemed to change every time we encountered him in the book, and it felt really dependent on how Twylla's other relationships were feeling at the time (rather than making him a character who actually reacts to situations based on his own motivations).

I'm not sure if I'll continue the series just yet; I might need a breather in between books to cleanse the palette, but this book was...decent. A decent read.