It took about a hundred pages for me to get into this book. For the first fifth of the novel I was lost and in world building overload. Once I got past that point, however, I read it in a white hot fury. I'm going to the library tomorrow to get the next one, despite the hundred or so unread books already hanging out in my house.

I think the book was so good, because the world is traditional enough to be a recognizable fantasy world and original enough to feel fresh. The characters are flawed and interesting. The main character Kaylin manages to feel both immature (she's in her early 20's) and world weary due to a difficult childhood.

My one problem with the book was that it sometimes seemed like the author was keeping secrets for secrets sake. People are always telling the heroine that it's better that she doesn't know something and dropping arch hints. This got to the point where if I were the heroine I would have run screaming. Maybe with trying to save children from being sacrificed and dealing with her own mysterious and dangerous power she had other things to worry about.

All in all, this was a great read and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on book 2 (4.5 stars)