I almost gave this book a higher rating because I really enjoyed the setting and the story immensely. Our first person protagonist is Yeine, granddaughter of Dekarta Arameri. The Arameris are the ruling family of the hundred thousand kingdoms. Yeine is an outsider from the kingdom of Darre and travels to the Arameri Palace of Sky after her mother's death. There she is named heir, in a system where only the strongest of multiple heirs survives. As Yeine tries to understand her mother's history while surviving the intrigues of the other heirs, she learns that the gods need her for their machinations as well.

The writing is beautiful, and the story is wonderfully intriguing. The only reason this does not have five stars is the stupid love story the author apparently felt necessary. It made no sense to me at all.

I still highly recommend this to people who enjoy beautifully written fantasy full of an interesting pantheon of gods.