'' ''The dead will cower in my light!'' -- ''Every dark corner will be bathed in it, steeped in it... and it will burn!'' ''
★★☆☆☆
From the back cover:
Queen Evelina is the victorious hero of the war that freed her countrymen from tyrannical invaders and her own wicked father. She is revered by the people—mighty of arms, inspired with strategy and relentless in tenacity... thirsty of blood, towering with pride, and cemented in obstinance—she is feared by the people. Old enemies seek her ruin, the fall of her kingdom and a return to power. Known as the Dawnmaiden to those who love her, and as the Bloody Virgin to those that hate her; will Evelina overcome her own flaws and spite, or will she become indistinguishable from the villains she fights?
The description above is one of the most spot-on ones that I've ever read. But, unfortunately, it still didn't save it from one major down point. Imagine a TV-series, season one, you haven't seen episodes one to three and start watching from episode four until the season finale. You have missed the introduction of the main characters and the setting, and you are just thrust into the middle of things. Yes, you've got the glossary in the last pages of the book and it helps a lot because there are many things that you just can't puzzle out the meaning of yourself. But to be honest, the glossary doesn't save you from the confusion of starting from the middle
Character-wise the book is very diverse. There are dreamers, realistics, those driven forward by hate or love towards their homeland. Actually, all of the characters are very emotionally involved in their agenda. Although they all are aiming for the same outcome, they all do it very differently. Some run towards the danger and some shy away from it. The contrast between the characters' personalities really work and the chemistry sompliments the plot well.
Since there was no beginning one could easily assume there would not be an ending. According to the author there will be at least a second installment to the series which will clear up a lot and fill the blanks from the first book.