The Quick Cut: A girl who secretly wields magic in a dystopian society is given an opportunity to get rich.... if she agrees to help rebels overthrow the king. A Real Review: Dystopian stories are a dime a dozen, but it's when they make a unique spin on that typical idea that they can stick with you. Characters overcoming odds and doing what they can to make their worlds better are some of the most fun to root for. For Ren Kolins, she is a girl just trying to survive with her illegal abilities in the kingdom of Erdis. Erdis is a kingdom that used to be a very different place a century ago - before magic was outlawed. In one quick move, all the silver wielders were wiped out to make it a non-issue for the king. Except a rebellion is coming and the king will do anything to stop that. Ren is a girl with the rare silver ability that is outlawed. She spends her entire life trying to hide her skills in order to survive. She barely scrapes by with her thievery and fighting in the pits. It all falls apart though when her silver wielding is noticed by rebels and decided to make her an offer: help the rebellion to overthrow the king and get rich once he's gone. Will the risk be worth the reward? Dystopian societies and fantasy worlds are two separate genres that get plenty of reader's attention. Together in one story, they should be the recipe for success. Right? That is exactly what piqued my interest about this book. Once I got to the end of the book though, all I felt was frustration at seeing a perfectly good premise never reach its true potential. Let me explain what I mean by that. This book weighs in at a somewhat lengthy 480 pages. The story itself is broken up into 4 different parts and in the process follows a few different characters. While the plot itself tracks and does make a complete story, it felt rushed. So much material in one story? It seemed like the plot was better suited for multiple books. On top of that, it felt like the world building wasn't quite complete. It was hard to really imagine the kingdom in my mind. I would have much more preferred the author to have spent more time creating the world the story was in and broken up the plot across at least another book. Ren isn't your typical heroine because she's far from perfect. She does what she has to in order to survive in the world she's living in. She continues to do what she has to in order to make it when she aligns with the rebels. I spent a lot of time wondering what brought her to where she is now. It would have been easier to sympathize with her and root for her on her journey if I better understood her motivations. She was not my favorite character's POV to follow. A plotline that is missing the wonderful world building it needed. My rating: 3 out of 5