Came for the beautiful cover. Stayed for the beautiful writing.

I don't normally read books with royal characters because honestly monarchies are stupid and outdated and why can't we just burn the system down already. But throw in a Black monarchy in Julian Winters's universe, and I'm sold. I instantly felt compassion for Jadon, who was wildly misunderstood by his family, so-called friends, and the press.

Growing up in the public eye is messy. Like imagine if your teenage mistakes were magnified (i.e., blown out of proportion) and turned into front page news stories. I lowkey wouldn't survive all that scrutiny (not today, and definitely not as a teenager, when I'm still figuring out who I am and not being given the room to change and grow). Newsflash: teenagers make lots of mistakes, and they're allowed to be messy!

Jadon's been taught to not speak out on issues where his opinion "won't make a difference" because his island's tradition is neutrality in international affairs. So at first he's silent on issues like transphobia because he doesn't want to accidentally say the wrong thing and get blasted in the press (again). Throughout the course of the book, though, he learns to use his voice, even going against tradition by attending a protest with one of his friends. He learns that breaking tradition is a good thing, and something younger generations celebrate!

Oh yeah, and the romance between Jadon and Reiss is well developed and sweet. Jadon opens himself up for the first time and learns how to fully trust other people. The friendships he develops are just as satisfying.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!