Synopsis

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel. I’ve spent my life kneeling to their will and to my father's. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king. I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood. But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life. Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated? And what if for the first time I reached for it?

The protagonists

My review

I confess I'd drifted away from romance a bit, the genre had begun to feel predictable, as if all the worlds were becoming too similar. Then Devney Perry came along with Calandra, its five realms, and its monsters, and reminded me why I'd ever fallen in love with the genre. The first thing that surprises you is the world-building. Introducing a completely new cosmology is one of the biggest risks in fantasy, doing it badly means losing the reader in the first few pages. Perry does it well. Every element of the universe is calibrated, without overwhelming or boring, with the precision of someone who knows exactly when to reveal and when to withhold. Before you know it, you know the rules of Calandra better than your own. But what truly elevates this book is Odessa. She's a protagonist built with uncommon honesty: she's not the chosen one who always knew she was special, but the daughter no one noticed, the one who spent years being considered expendable, and who finds her strength not because fate bestows it upon her, but because the world leaves her no other choice. Being inside her head is a privilege. I was able to empathize with her, understand her fears, and celebrate every small victory. That kind of protagonist isn't easy to write, and Perry achieves it with a naturalness that is deeply appreciated. I died, I came back to life, I died again, and I came back to life again. And I would do it all again without hesitation.

Who is this for?

Where to buy it?