This aside, the book was an enjoyable read. It felt very shaky, like it had been put in there purely because it was expected of a YA book. Given the acknowledgements mention help with realising “it’s a romance”, I was expecting much more. The romance itself is hardly present – a “I don’t want to kill him” moment from her, which didn’t feel earned. However, they have so few sequences together (and the book takes place over a week) that it was hard to believe in their attraction. It’s described in such a way that it heavily implies a romance between Karina and Malik. I think the main thing was the lack of romance.

I wavered for a long time between giving this 3.5 stars and 4 stars, and decided to give it the benefit of the doubt – that it was just that I’d expected too much of it, all things considered. Given all the hype, I was expecting everything from this book – and naturally didn’t get it. This was probably the most hyped YA fantasy release of the summer, a fact I think actually hindered my enjoyment of this book. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death? When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated her court threatens mutiny and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal-kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.īut Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran.

A song of wraiths and ruin series