I completely forgot about this book until right now and I'm genuinely mad at myself because it was SO GOOD.
A princess assassin sent to kill a prince? In a post-apocalyptic world where two magical races are at war? And NOTHING is what it seems? I was HOOKED. Gray Monroe is the morally grey FMC of my dreams — trained killer, raised by a monster of a father who uses her as a weapon, and she doesn't even know the truth of what she is. And Griffin? The "villain" she's been sent to kill? This man is trying to SAVE everyone while battling his own spiraling madness. The enemies-to-lovers slow burn between them was agonizing in the best way.
The world-building in this book is INSANE. Kinetics and Elementals at war, humans forced underground, a king whose cruelty knows no bounds, portals between realms, a magic system that actually makes sense — it felt like watching a blockbuster movie unfold in my head. And the twists? Every time I thought I had it figured out, DeVore pulled the rug out from under me.
The found family. The trauma. The healing. The "he falls first" of it all. Gray discovering her true power and heritage while everything she believed crumbles around her? THIS is dark romantic fantasy done right.
The cliffhanger ending destroyed me and I have no regrets.
✨ 5/5 stars. An underrated gem that deserves so much more hype. If you love morally grey assassin FMCs and slow-burn enemies-to-lovers in a brutal fantasy world — READ THIS.