As a big fan of all the Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings books, it was a must to read this book. I wasn't expecting much, having not heard of this triology before or the author my expectations were low. However after the first chapter i was completely absorbed! i read the whole book in 3 days, i just could not put it down, its a real interesting story line full of twists and turns. Yelena is a briliant main character, a true heroin in the story making it more appealing to read, throughout the book her past life unfolds making very interesting reading. There is a lot going on in this book, full of action, romance, magic, twist and turns, the author creates a fantastic mix of description and action so that you feel you know the characters well but are not sucked into to pages of boring description. The author creates a new world for the characters to live in full of unexpected and intriging places, the author has even put a map at the front of the book of Yelenas world which adds brilliantly to the book, i found myself frequently referring to it to get an idea where the characters were. I do not have one bad word to say about this book, i thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes a captive read. The only problem is it is a triology of three, however all the books have now been published so you dont have to wait til the next one comes out.