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SUMMARY

As an anonymous royal, Loon once lived peacefully on the Island. But after an enchanted storm dethrones the King and Queen, she becomes a target for roving assassins who want a revolution.
Loon flees the palace to resettle near a fig orchard where one of the Island’s most lethal assassins, Kala, lives. Despite the secrets each carries, the pair drift closer as a malevolent Mage attempts to bend the land and people to her will.
What begins as a forbidden romance transforms into a crusade to protect the Island’s only chance of survival: its imminent Queen. Bound to the other’s life force, Loon and the sentient Island must find a way forward—even if it means leaving everything and everyone behind.

Publication date: 23 October 2021

Rating: 3/5 stars

Category: Romance, Fantasy, New Adult

Pages: 1114

Publisher: Capes LLC

Source: Netgalley

Trigger: Violent murder

In a society were to be Royal means to live in hope that one day you will die for the continued vitality of the Island, Loon has always had this at the back of her mind. The Royals wear vials to hide their identity and ensure that they can live freely among the citizens. Loon has 4 other siblings who might also be sacrificed for the Island but their mother who was the previous sacrifice is unburied, which threatens the eligibility of Loon and her siblings.

Chaos rains in the Island as some citizens start killing Royals to try and appease the sentient Island; Loon loses all her siblings as well as her father in the course of 5 years. She keeps moving from town to town looking for a partner that she can start a family with for security. The man she is attracted to is her neighbour, Kala, who happens to be the most notorious murderer of Royals.

Loon has to race to find her King and produce heirs before she is identified as the last Islander and killed before the Island takes her as its heart. This story spans years, and we see how Loon and Kala fall in love and have twin boys but will Loon have her chance to be the Island’s heart or will the Islander’s assassins kill her first? Either way Loon’s destiny is to die.

I like good introductory chapters because I feel like they set the tone for how much a reader might enjoy the story, they set the tone for me at least. A good introductory chapter doesn’t have to explain everything about the story but it should at least set the scene of what is to come or serve as a sufficient introduction to the character or characters. I was so lost reading the first chapter of this book and if my decision to continue reading a book was based on the first chapter I would have immediately stopped reading this book. I can’t say the first 4 chapters were any better either. I was hanging on to my interest in the story by a thin thread.

I gave this story 3 out of 5 stars. Whilst it spanned a number of years and was detailed most of which had relevance to how the story ended, I didn’t like the confused feeling I had at the beginning. It could have caused me to DNF the story but I choose to stick with it and I am glad I did. It leaves you with some questions at the end which I think is part of its charm.

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