I am baffled why this book is tagged as Adult before YA. This is a textbook-cliched YA novel.
I know that the YA category for publishers solely depends on the age of the protagonists but goodreads is just based on the bookshelves people shelve stuff on as I understand it.

Anyway, let me first write about the good and the bad of clichées.
They are not bad by definition. Clichées and tropes can be a great shortcut to communicate complex boilerplate setups in just a few sentences for example. They can communicate what matters in a story, and what to pay attention to. They can be very interesting if subverted in interesting ways but they don't have to be. Clichées can help you immediately connect with a character for example. Or get on the wavelength the author is writing on. I don't hate clichées on their own. But clichées alone are not enough to make a good story. You need something interesting, something surprising, something novel, or something you can get emotionally invested in deeply; beyond the clichées you invoke and that is what is missing in this story. Because everything is built from all the most common YA fantasy clichées everything is predictable from miles away, there are no interesting tensions of any kind. Everything is already spelled out by expectation through the exclusive use of common tropes.
There just is no story to be told here. ( )

Interesting magic in this one - also happy to have an enemies to lovers romance that has some steam although it did feel a little contrived at times.
Definitely has potential - will read the next installment. ( )

A Devastating Sickness

For decades, the Kethran Empire has been plagued by a strange illness that leaches the very life and soul from its victims.

The Girl Who Survived

Casia is one of the Fade-Marked—one of the few people who caught this sickness and lived. Why she lived is a mystery even to her and the outcast crew of mercenaries she calls her family. It also makes her an intriguing target for the young, enigmatic king-emperor, who claims he wants to work alongside her to find a cure.

Unfortunately, working alongside him also means working with the handsome but infuriating captain of one of the most prestigious branches of the Kethran Army.

A Soldier With No Past

This infuriating Captain Elander also has secrets: A past that Cas can’t seem to uncover, a powerful but strange brand of magic, and a deep distrust of the very monarch that he’s sworn to serve. She feels oddly drawn to him in spite of these things...

But can she really trust him?

The Fate of an Empire

As the bodies pile up and strange monsters begin to wreak havoc throughout the realms, Cas and Elander will have to work together to protect their world whether they trust one another or not. Because one thing is clear: Something ancient and evil is stirring in the shadows of Kethra.

And the empire will not survive its full unleashing.

But how can they save a world where nothing and no one is what they seem to be— including Cas herself?

okay so like… throne of glass meets shadow and bone meets avatar the last airbender and like kingdom of the wicked?? idk bruh

this was a solid 3.5 star read until the end. it was not very enemies to lovers (but i love extremely slow slow burns) but then the end ?? muah. i saw one of the plot twists coming (one that was very cinder-esque) but the other i totally did not. and the last line?? ugh i gotta keep reading this shit

i’m slightly confused about parts of this book but i don’t care because i’m here for a good time not a long time. ( )

Wow!

Wow was the only coherent word I could come up with after reading this book. I predicted part of that ending but was shocked, as in being zapped by a taser, at the other part.

I have read another one of S. M. Gaither's series and this one is in that same world. It wasn't as hard to figure out the complicated magic system and world because I had read the other series.

I liked Casia except I thought she was an idiot for trusting someone who had already proved he was basically evil.

I adored Elander. I liked his humor and his straight forewardness. It also helped that he was gorgeous and was a bit of a mystery.

I hadn't realized this was the only book out when I chose it. I usually like a few books out before I start reading so I don't fizzle out and forget everything before the next book is released. I guess I'll have to wait now.
( )