"Recommended for young adult readers"--Title page verso.

"Face your demons ... or feed them. The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country's bloody civil war--and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka's coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha army. Yet with every day a dark magic withing him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. Nikolai must vanquish the terrible legacy within him, but some secrets aren't meant to stay buried--and some wounds aren't meant to heal."--Back cover.