Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

Book blurb 

"Raisa was just a child when she was sold to work as a slave in the kingdom of Qilara. Despite her young age, her father was teaching her to read and write, grooming her to take his place as a Learned One. In Qilara, the Arnathim, like Raisa, are the lowest class, and literacy is a capital offense. What’s more, only the king, prince, tutor, and tutor-in-training are allowed to learn the very highest order language, the language of the gods. So when the tutor-in-training is executed for teaching slaves this sacred language, and Raisa is selected to replace her, Raisa knows any slipup on her part could mean death. 

Keeping her secret is hard enough, but the romance that’s been growing between her and Prince Mati isn’t helping matters. Then Raisa is approached by the Resistance—an underground army of slave rebels—to help liberate Arnath slaves. She wants to free her people, but that would mean aiding a war against Mati. As Raisa struggles with what to do, she discovers a secret that the Qilarites have been hiding for centuries—one that, if uncovered, could bring the kingdom to its knees."

My review:

Sword and Verse is an interesting high fantasy book. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down even though I was a little scared that there won't be enough action. However, I am grateful to have been allowed to read and review this digital ARC. This book will be released on January 19th, 2016 and I am excited to know your thoughts about this book. 

The main character, Raisa, is a slave girl who has been chosen to be the next 'tutor' when the last one was executed for treason. She learnt how to read and write in order to teach the next heir. Prince Mati has been studying with her in the palace and even though they both know they can't have a relationship, they cannot ignore their feelings for long either. 

A Resistance is forming against the slavery of her people and she will have to choose between helping them at the risk of her life and the loss of Mati's trust, or ignoring them.

Raisa could be a little frustrating at times but I still enjoyed reading her story. What happened to her family pained me. I was scared for a moment that Mati would turn out to be a jerk when Soraya arrived at the palace but in the end, their story was nicely written. I also like that it's a standalone instead of ending with a huge cliffhanger. I found that the ending was solved a little too easily but I still enjoyed it. 

***I wanted to thank HarperTeen for letting me read and review this ARC.***

You can find it here on Goodreads.