Rutherford, Mara

Those looking for a light romance coupled with magic and a fantasy world will be intrigued. Fans of the “Shadow and Bone” trilogy by Leigh Bardugo will likewise enjoy it.

The influences of Game of Thrones, Kiera Cass’s The Selection, and Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen are quite obvious in this too-familiar fantasy novel about an innocent girl in a lethal world. This may tempt fans of world-building, but the lack of surprises and twists will leave readers unsatisfied.