The River She Became by Emily Varga

The quick cut: A girl who is a scholar by day and a relic hunter at night takes a risk by crossing the wall in an effort to save her people and restore magic. 

A real review: 

 Everyone has certain needs in order to live: water, food, and sleep. However, what would you do if your world needed something a little extra as well? How far would you go in order to gain back what is needed? For Yaseema, the answer is everything when she risks her life to cross the wall and bring magic back to the people dying on her side. 

 Yaseema is a scholar who appears to be a loyal servant of the Empire, but in reality she is trying to help the people. By locating fae artifacts, she hopes to gain the key needed to cross the wall and bring magic back to the land. The problem is that on the other side of the wall are beautiful monsters with their own ruthless leaders. Among them is a captain named Kiyan who is also trying to overrule the leaders oppressing the people. Can these two work together and find the artifact that will save them all? Or will greed get in the way? 

 Romantasy is such a big subgenre now that it's hard to write something that truly stands out. I liked the idea behind this one because it set up a lot of dramatic potential with overruling dictators and greedy leaders. However, the issue I had is that the core couple here felt a little too similar to each other. Both of them are working for their cruel kingdoms while trying to overthrow them? It leaves very little to tell each of them apart, which made their POVs feel very similar as well. 

 Yaseema is looking for more than just a fae artifact on the other side of the wall. She is also looking for her mother who passed to the other side of the wall years ago and never came back. While everyone has lost so much, she lost the family that she cared about most and that's the one pain that she has no possible solution for currently. It's this small difference that keeps Kivan and Yaseema being exact matches (except in different genders). 

 Kiyan might be the harsh looking loyalist for his leader, but the reality is that he's working against him. Rather than bringing true traitors, he serves up others in order to stay on his leader's good side. Like Yaseema, he is also looking for the same fae artifact to bring the power back to the people. 

 The chapters alternate between their point of view and each one has their own purposes and agendas. Yaseema is more than willing to betray Kiyan to get what she needs. These two are more connected than they look though and by the time that information is revealed, it feels like too little of a surprise to truly have any impact. 

 A wonderful romantasy setup that fails to create truly unique characters. 

My rating: 3.5 out of 5