Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

People who enjoy YA fantasy, great world building, evil empires of evilness, and mild romance.

The world building in this book is glorious. Glorious. I loved the evil empire of evilness, and the whole backstory of the scholars,the evil empire of evilness, and the rebels.

The love rectangle. It was pointless. The love rectangle was only there to create romantic tension, and it distracted from the real story Basically, the plot line for romance goes:
Laia: OH! Elias is hot, but i will kiss this other guy instead, but Elias is hot
Elias: OH! Laia is Hot, but let me play around with my best friend's heart when i obviously don't have feeling for her, now i will ditch her for a girl i have had very few conversations with
In unison: WE WOULD DIE FOR EACH OTHER
The romance was such a let down.

Scream and cry, and not in the good way. I had heard such hype about this book, and it was very disappointing for me.

Put out. Especially with the love rectangle.

Sabaa Tahir

I honestly do not recommend it, but the world building is great.

Let me list it out:
Love rectangle

Evil empire of evilness having no depth or purpose but to be evil

Couldn't really pick a side for the revolution. The rebels are jerks, the scholars are wimps, and the evil empire of evilness does a lot of storming around in capes

Insta Love!

The only reason this book is PG-13 is because of allusions and close calls to being raped

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Created Aug 29, 2016 at 10:04pm • Submit your own review...