I rated this 2 stars not because it was a bad book but because I couldn’t quite get into the plot until later. I enjoyed Jude as a main character, she was an active protagonist, however there weren’t a lot of characters I cared for besides her. The cruel prince himself was somewhat interesting but hard to care for. I’ve heard this series gets better in the later books. I think this is a fair first book but it didn’t blow me away. The writing, however, was easy to understand and the world wasn’t complicated either. The best part of the novel was probably the climax of the book, which I won’t spoil. The drama of that part of the plot was somewhat unexpected and I like how it guided the characters into their end of book actions. It essentially set up the rest of the series for a lot of political intrigue. I love how cunning Jude is and how she isn’t afraid to do something terrible.