More of the same, but worse
I’ll start by saying that I love this author and this series. However, this book was subpar. The plot was so slow it felt like I was wading in molasses, the characters were extremely one dimensional, and the political opinions of the author were stated so many times it became repetitive. These are supposed to be romances. This was not a love story by any stretch of the imagination. The relationship felt forced, as if magic made them love each other. The “loving” couple actually spend all of maybe 3 days together in the book. The rest of the time they don’t know each other and are completely apart.
Also, she touches on a lot of mental illness and abuse in this book. While I appreciate that she didn’t downplay the horrors in the main character’s life, she made it such a big deal that I felt like I was reading a possible case study of a person with any number of therapy issues, not a novel. As a result, the love story felt unhealthy and wrong. The main character is not ready for a long term, healthy marriage. She’s certainly not ready to rule a kingdom.
This was poorly written and I’m sad because I’ve been looking forward to the book.