This universe of this book is well-crafted and interesting but the theme is super dark, almost unrelentingly dark; the heroine’s determination to survive, to find small victories, was what kept the read going. Mehr is the Governor’s daughter and a nobleman, but she is also the second-class daughter of his first wife, who belonged to a tribe of magic-users that is being vilified and forced from the empire. She lashes out at her situation by performing some of her mother’s forbidden magic, and attracts the attention of dangerous people, which places everyone she loves in jeopardy. Because she never stops fighting, her character arc is actually not the interesting one; instead, it’s the man that she meets partway through the book, whose journey was even darker than hers, who grows and develops the most because of her intervention. Very smooth writing; I liked the themes, which revolve around familial relationships, compromises, and the choices people make when they need to stay true to themselves.