3.5 of 5 stars

Listened to audio narrated by Henrietta Meire.

This was labeled as a reverse harem book but up until almost the end of the story there was no indications of romance throughout the book. In fact I would classify this as YA or NA with a last minute touch of GLBT.

Eona lost her mother when she was a child and was taken in my gypsies. Magic is distrusted in the land and so she keeps her magic hidden, everyone assuming her performance is due to tricks rather than magic, until the day she's kidnapped.

Her captors toss her in the dungeon then she's told it was all a mistake and is cossetted and trained by the King's sorcerer, but not is all as it seems. Eona simultaneously grows and learns to use her magic, while becoming more and more docile and compliant. Things start to change when she connects with the mythical Peryton. I suspected what was happening but it all starts to make sense when everything is revealed later in the book.

I liked the fantasy elements but the love interest felt like it was tacked on at the very end and I was still left wondering what made anyone suggest this book was a reverse harem. Maybe the next book in the series will justify the reverse harem classification. There was also a lot of time spent reading about mundane things such as candle making and herb lore, making me think it was going to be important given how much time was spent but if it was, I didn't get it.

So while I liked the book I had some mixed feelings about it, I'm hoping the next book in the series will be better.

Content warning is due to sexual assault.

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