The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix

The quick cut: A young witch sent to be the treaty bride finds her life complicated when witches start dying of a new disease and the people she's sent to betray turn out to be not what she expected.

A real review:

Historically, witches have gotten a bad reputation as evil women who look to corrupt and hoard power. Even if they aren't that way, how long would it take before they lived up to it? This is the reality for Ranka.

Ranka has experienced plenty of death to last a lifetime. All she wants to do is live her days out in Witchik's wild north. So when she's named Bloodwinn, she knows that will never happen. Instead, she'll be sent to the human kingdom of Isodal to marry the prince and continue their kingdom's treaty. Will Ranka's future be grim? Or a pleasant surprise instead?

I saw this one in the bookstore and the cover caught my eye. The description of the story only further intrigued me. The length concerned me, but I went for it anyways. Now having read it, I definitely think it was worth it, but I wonder if it would have been better as a duology instead.

Ranka starts out doing as she's told and what she knows is best for their people. That gets complicated though when she gets to Isodal and meets the twin royals. While they start out giving her a frosty welcome, they develop a friendship as they eventually see their common goal.

The politics are clear and the reason for the tension clear, but I definitely felt in the end that things sped up plot wise. As two books, there would have been more time to conclude without having to rush and the end did feel a bit rushed.

A fun fantasy with surprising twists and turns.

My rating: 3.75 out of 5