Jules Ember is a 19 year old girl who lives in a place called Crofton, Sempera with her father in poverty. She’s only ever wanted a peaceful life with her father, without any worries. However, they have too many debts and day by day her father is dying trying to pay up all of them at the same time. Jules feels really bad, so she decides to work at Everless, the house of the wealthiest family in Sempera, who she and her dad hate very much for an incident that happened years ago. The book basically shows her life at Everless, and Jules ends up realizing that it wouldn’t be as easy as she thought it would be.
Overall, I liked the book, but I didn’t really like the style of writing, because there were some points where I was a little bored. It talked a lot about the legends of Sempera and the royalty and I think what I liked the most about the whole book was that it had so many twists and turns, it kept you on your toes a lot. I especially loved Jules’s friendships with Ina and Caro, and the author really did a good job on displaying everything, but it was a slow progression into the story. The twist that was revealed at the end was slowly built to be revealed, making it slightly boring when the author left cliffhangers to go on to other aspects of the book.
I liked the cover a lot, because I think that it accurately represented the story and its theme. It shows a sand timer with the land of Sempera in it, and I think that it was the correct way to show the book’s story because the book is all about how time is running out and Sempera is in danger.