After surviving the fever as a child, the magic she developed has lead to her living with a 500 year old monster, Nightmare, in her head. Something she has had to hide for the last 11 years as her magic is illegal magic. The fever has been a blight over Blunder and is only getting worse. Now she must work to help collect the Providence cards... The key to the cure. 

I really enjoyed the magic system in this book, it is something completely different than any other book I have read. I appreciated that there were consequences to using magic, and it wasn't just a free for all. I wanted more world building. We know a few things about Blunder, but not much. 

As always, I wish this had been dual POV. I really wanted to get into Ravyns head so that I could better understand him. He is not what you expect him to be. As the Captain, you expect him to be brutal and harsh, but he is quite the opposite. Elspeth a strong and intelligent woman who has had to fight to keep her secret and stay alive for the last 11 years. Yet, she is also kind of a boring character, her banter with Nightmare is the more interesting part of her. 

I really want more background on Nightmare, I find him very intriguing and the most interesting character in the book. I hope that we get more of his story in the second book. Is it weird that I wanted Elspeth to fall in love with him...?

It was not a surprise that Nightmare is The Shepherd King. That was pretty expected from the beginning.

Tropes: fantasy, magic, slow burn, Found family, forced proximity