Goodlett brings teens a fast-paced high fantasy thriller about three girls from very different backgrounds within the fictional country of Kolonya: a Traveler (similar in description to the Romany people), a palace maid with higher aspirations, and a girl from a far-flung and almost forgotten section of the kingdom who is desperate to escape her abusive father. All three are brought to the King’s court in to learn that they are his illegitimate daughters and, now that the king’s only heir has died, must compete to earn the right to inherit the throne.

It’s a tremendous shock for all three, of course. At least one of the girls thought she knew her biological father already. But this is no ordinary story of competition a la The Hunger Games. Each girl has a deep, dark secret, and each begins receiving threatening messages – some in blood – soon after they arrive at the palace. The secrets are dark indeed, involving a copious amount of betrayal, death, and blood magic. The blood magic is an interesting world-building choice: all magic is done by cutting oneself to “tithe” blood, and some of it is done frequently and is a part of everyday life in Kolonya. But some blood magic is forbidden because of its effects, and it’s this blood magic that is most relevant and interesting. Initially a bit confusing, particularly the good magic vs. the bad magic, the magic system grows clearer as the novel progresses.

Rather than fall into the easy trope of having the girls willingly pit themselves against each other, Goodlett refreshingly has her characters do the opposite: join forces and work together to ferret out the blackmailer. Told in alternating close third person points of view, each girl’s voice is distinct and their predicaments sympathetic. Their interactions with each other – one girl’s assumptions of another, for example – illuminate how each is perceived by the public at large, often in a very different light from how we as readers first see them during their own close POVs. It’s a handy writing technique that reinforces the notion that people are, of course, more than what appears on the surface. Once the girls realize this about each other, they become a force to be reckoned with.

I listened to the audiobook version, and it’s a pretty good production with three narrators: Bahni Turpin, Lisa Flanagan, and Soneela Nankani. Turpin’s voice is always a standout, but I did have trouble distinguishing Flanagan’s and Nankani’s from each other. However, Goodlett’s mastery of her characters’ voices is good enough that I could pick up on the POV quickly anyway.

While many readers (including myself) may be frustrated by the ending, which resolves close to nothing, the story is gripping throughout. A planned duology, wise readers may want to wait to pick up this volume until the concluding volume is released in June (less than a year after the first book’s publication, much to my delight). This is a good pick for fans of Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns, which never stays on the shelf for long at my library.