Picking up with Maeve now living in fosterage, she must navigate the petty jealousies of the young women also living in the castle. And she is no longer under her father's eye and the eyes of all the young men who came to pay their respects to the High King. She is still living with other people's expectations of her and it is a burden.

Still, I found Maeve's scattered nature one that I don't really enjoy in the heroines, of adult and young adult literature both. I had to continually ask myself how she is going to manage her own kingdom and its machinations. Several of the plotlines are resolved from the previous book, and its depiction of the times and customs are probably valid. ( )