Even with her pending nuptials, Nina finds time to horse around with Azure. As the two of them get a little bit closer they’re suddenly on very opposite sides of the equation than before and Nina discovers that she’s got a lot of power, but using it carries a heavy price...
So, there’s lots of charming romance in this one - some priceless Nina reactions, playful teasing, one very cute date, a fantastic moment where Azure loses his cool, the usual fluff. It’s all very sweet and innocent, despite the knowledge that Nina’s going to be married off, even as Azure starts to regret the entire plan as they spend more time together.
Then we get the first twist to this story and I nearly threw my e-reader across the room because it explains a lot about one character AND I totally should have seen that coming, but didn’t. It’s a perfect revelation for the story and gives it some extra heft. I always love when a book can actually spring something on me I wasn’t expecting and have it make perfect sense at the same time.
We also watch Nina finally learning a bit more about what it truly means to be portraying Alisha and that the needs of the many might just outweigh the needs of the few. There’s a second twist that is less surprising then the first, but still revealed with some killer panel composition, and is largely explained BY the first one.
At this point Nina has absorbed a few wise words from those around her and watching her learn to play the game is exactly what I wanted out of this volume. She’s been called a pawn many times over and, while chess is not present in the story, it’s worth remembering that pawns who can successfully navigate the board turn into queens. The way she dismantles her opponent in the moment is perfect.
And then we see that people really do stupid stuff when they’re in love and sometimes the best way to show you care is to keep that person from making that mistake on your behalf. It’s hard to say if Azure’s completely blinded in the moment - Nina simply might not be giving him credit - but it’s very believable and starts a turn into destiny and the star-crossed that I appreciated - for a fantasy story like this you might as well swing for the fences.
With Azure fleshed out quite a bit and his intentions made more plain in several respects, plus Nina’s behaviour framed less as her constantly screwing up and more her learning to work both inside and outside the system, this volume’s definitely the kind of course correction the story didn’t necessarily need but certainly pushes it up a notch in my estimation.
If I have any misgivings about this one, it’s definitely the very ending which introduces a character I suspect is meant to be our Token Rival(tm), but the tone when he’s introduced is so off-kilter from what has been a relatively composed narrative to this point that my eyebrows went up a little. Jury’s still out there.
4 stars. The cute bits are cute and the romance is engaging, but what really bumps this one up is a story genuinely surprising me (arguably twice). There’s something to be said for that and it truly kicks my estimation up a notch.