"You are to be queen one day, and you will not cry in front of them, Aggie. You will change this world."
"Gods, he would rip the world apart for her. Until the end of time."
A mysterious Grimoire. A prophesied marriage full of dark secrets. And at the center of it all, a forgotten quartet of Sister witches tasked with sculpting History by magic. When Agatha is Ordered to the fair city of Merveille by an ancient Grimoire, she expects the worst. For the past three hundred years, Agatha, Sister Autumn, has been Ordered to incite wars, kill kings, burn villages, and release plagues. While her Sisters Winter, Spring, and Summer initiate the glories of history, Agatha is left to bring the horrors. But when the Grimoire also Orders Agatha to marry a pompous prince she's never met, and play the peasant "accepted" by vicious aristocrats, Agatha finds herself at the center of class turmoil and an age-old prophecy. But all is not as it seems within the court: too many players are harbouring dark secrets-including her new husband. And the more time she is in the castle, the more she's convinced that the long forbidden art of magic may actually be alive and well. It will take every ounce of her cunning and bravery to bridge the gap between the peasants and the crown, unravel the mysteries of her marriage, and, and accept help from the most unlikely sources. As secrets unfold will Agatha and her Sisters continue to serve the Grimoire, or forge an uncharted History with her new allies?
I have been dying to read a good witchy book and I can say this one did a pretty good job of giving me all the vibes I was wanting. I immediately fell in love with Agatha's character; she is ferocious and caring all at the same time. The author does a lot of world building in this one early on to explain the dynamics of the Sisters and their roles. I honestly wish a little more of that had been clearer early on, it felt like it took a bit to get to the heart of that dynamic. The book spends an overwhelming amount of time focused on court dynamics and the tensions in the kingdom, which was important, but also felt a bit boring sometimes.
The romance element to me was a tad disappointing for like the first 70 percent of the book, because the two hardly interacted--although they had some intense banter when they did. They had an enemies to lovers vibe about them pretty early on. I will say that I wished they had more interactions, so as to make some of the tension in the ones they had make more sense. It is most assuredly a slow burn type of book like SLOW slow, but nonetheless fun to watch unfold because of the banter and Agatha's inability to hold her tongue. I enjoyed the sisterhood dynamics the author showcased and can't wait to see more of that develop in the future books.
This book while slow to start and a bit confusing (because of the world building) was full of all the things I adore in a book. It had a strong, fierce main character. It had superb banter. It had secrets, which I wish had been a little less secret to make sense, and surprise reveals. It had shock and awe factors throughout the entire story and a lot of moments that I never saw coming. The last 30% of the book had me so engrossed that I forgot to put it down to sleep. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next installment of this series.