flipping between Nadya and Serefin’s perspectives. It’s glamorous, with jewels and ice and marble palaces. The nun and the nomad infiltrate the palace through a disguise– the nun will play a contestant for the prince’s hand (very similar to The Selection. However, Serefin starts to consider that perhaps his father’s war efforts are futile, and that Kalyazi has some hope in its nation. The nun meets (and fights) with a dark and mysterious nomad, who eventually ally together to kill the king. The Vultures (sacred magical army of Tranavia) and Serefin (Prince of Tranavia) are hunting the nun down. Everybody has grown war-weary, just wanting it to end. She believes killing the king will end the war (which looks like they’re losing).

While she’s running, she conspires a plan to kill the enemy king. A nun’s magic powers are revealed, and she’s on the run. Magic exists, gods contact people, and technology from the Industrial Revolution onwards does not exist. There is a long (100s and 1000s of years) war going on between Kalyazi and Tranavia (aka two sides of contemporary Russia). Her abilities (sourced from the gods, which Tranavians do not believe) are a threat to the war effort. He seeks to kill Nadya, who has gone viral amongst the two nations. He begins to counsel Kalyazi sympathisers, and develops his own opinions of the empire. He returns after some time (I think roughly 5 years), and is skeptic of his father’s pursuits. He is the face of the war effort, but is a run-away. Serefin: Prince of Tranavia, but not loyal to the crown. He’s gritty and crude and breaks your heart multiple times. He was an excellent villain that you fall in love with. He’s a strange nomad who comes across Nadya, and joins her on her quest to kill the King of Tranavia (Serefin’s papa (view spoiler) ). It was interesting to watch her start the novel being so devout to her gods (who give her magical abilities), to the end, where she fears the gods and does not wish to contact them.

She was relatable to follow, and I loved her insights. Nadya: A beautiful nun (in training) from a Kalyazi, one of the two major lands in the mythical Russia. And this is coming from me: somebody who’s a history teacher (to be), with a specialisation in the Romanov Dynasty (c. I ADORED IT!!! I’m taking 1/2 of a star off, because the Russian lore was difficult to understand which was irritating.

Wicked saints series