I’ve been really slack at this whole book review thing recently. I finished this book over a month ago, but I just haven’t been able to get the motivation to log on and write up my review.

That’s no reflection on this book, which was absolutely great. As it’s been over a month since I read it, I don’t feel like I’m really going to do it justice in this review, for which I apologise.

Kalinda is an orphan, looked after by the Sisterhood. Her life is set out before her – a life away from the world. She’s always been a sickly child, so is unlikely to ever be claimed by any of the visitors to the temple.

But when Rajah Tarek visits the temple and claims her as his hundredth wife, her life is completely turned upside down. She’s now forced into a competition to fight for a place among the Rajah’s other wives. This competition is brutal and due to Kalinda’s sickly nature, it’s not looking good for her. She may have escaped from the temple, but it’s not looking like it will be for long.

But within Kalinda is a fire, a power. And if she wants to escape from the Rajah, she’ll need to find and harness this power to save herself.

I loved the developing relationship between Deven and Kalinda, the intensity of her feelings from the first time they met.

But what I loved more was the relationship between the women in the book – female empowerment at its finest.

I really wish I’d written this review straight after I’d finished reading as I feel I’d have been much more eloquent. It’s been a long few weeks at work and I’m afraid that I’ve lost so much of the nuances of the story. All I know is I really want to read the second book in this series, I can’t wait to see what happens to Kalinda next.