I have read a number of Elise's other books, so going into this I had a level of expectation. Whilst the book is still good, it didn't meet that level, however after looking into it I realised this was her debut novel. It was a little slow moving and for me I found it a little lacking which meant it took me longer to get through than normal. The magic system is solid with different regions having the possibility of their people having a specific elemental magic, similar to Avatar. There is plenty of political intrigue and an ongoing war, although there isn't a lot of action in this book. I'm not 100% sold on the MMC however the bond aspect is intriguing and I like that its different from the standard mate type bond.