Thank you for the arc, unfortunately I did not finish it, I just wasn't the right audience for this book.

Saroya's lives in a fragmented society. A society where people are screened by their educational system to determine their Talent - that one area in which they excel. Once a person's Talent is determined, they are sent to receive training in a corresponding Guild. But what if you don't have that one essential Talent that leads to Guild membership? If you are deemed Untalented? Such is the case with Saroya. Orphaned and barred from the Guilds, she has nowhere to go, nowhere to work. She is doomed to be a castoff of society as soon as her school term has ended. Only her best friend will speak to her, her teachers don't want her in their classes, and her room is broken into, and what little she had is stolen from her.

Then something strange happens. A messenger from the King requests that all girls at Saroya's school of a certain age are to be brought to the capital. Saroya is grudgingly brought along. Can she find work in the capital? Trick the system into letting her find a place in the Guilds? Find a place where she can finally belong? Saroya is determined to try, no matter what it takes, often with disastrous results.

When plague hits the capital city, and Untalents blamed, Saroya is finally forced to rise above her own problems, and do what she can to help.

DNF :/ trying to clear out my NetGalley shelf which means giving feedback for all the books from years ago.

At some point during their lives, all people are tested for Talents. Having a Talent means pursuing a higher education and being found Untalented gets you low-respected work and a difficult life.

Unfortunately, Sayora has just failed to pass her third and final Test, and the Adepts she has been living with decide to send her away. A twist of fate sends her to the country's capital, where she becomes central to a long hidden conspiracy in the very heart of the royal palace.

A nice light read, both thrilling and enjoyable. I recommend it for girls age 13-16, especially if they like medieval-ish based books about princesses.

Thanks to Netgalley for the egalley and I hope to read the sequel when it comes out