A review by novaturient_bibliophile
The Ever Cruel Kingdom by Rin Chupeco

4.25

The ending was really exciting, and tense, and brilliant. But up until the last hundred or so pages, the rising action just was not very engaging. Yes, it had positive messages; yes, it built on ideas so the climax would make sense; yes, it developed important relationships. It didn’t keep me hooked, though, and it didn’t add to my investment in the story. That being said, the last third of the book was great. The ending was well-written too, because it was good and happy without being unrealistic and too perfect. I loved the casual queer rep, too. However, I must admit, some of the “sisterhood comments made me cringe”. Overall, this book shocked me. Some of the twists were just really out of nowhere. They made sense, but they were not predictable. 
This reminded me of the Cerulean by Amy Ewing and Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor.