The Traitor's Game by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Kestra has been essentially banished from her father's home until she agrees to an arranged marriage.  Her father is a top official of the corrupt regime of the evil Lord Endrick.  Banishment, away from the expectations and restrictions of the court, suits Kestra, so it is with reluctance that she finds that she has been called home.  On the way her carriage is attacked by rebels who want to overthrow Endrick.  Holding her beloved mentor captive, they force her to join their quest to find the magical blade that has the power to kill the evil king.  As their plan to find the knife proceeds, and Kestra gets to know her captors, especially one named Simon, better, her eyes are opened to how her own family has participated in crushing the citizens of the kingdom.  She ultimately must decide whose side she is on and where her loyalties lie.

After reading a fairly heavy historical fiction, I was ready for some light fantasy.  This isn't very light, in fact, it is a bit dark-but it is exciting and engaging. Nielsen has created a very complicated plot with many twists and turns.  There is intrigue and counter intrigue and you never know who is going to betray whom. The characters are also complicated, each with their secret motives and personality flaws. It was also quite clean; although there was some violence, there was no sex, and very little bad language. My only complaint is that I think Nielsen wasn't quite sure if this is "high fantasy" or not.  Some of the conversation is really formal and old fashion, as you would expect in high fantasy, while some is pretty colloquial. They fight will swords and cannons. There is also one plot point, (I won't mention because it is a spoiler) that bothered me a bit, but these faults are minor.  Overall it was a good teen fantasy, and really well suited to the D&D-geek kids who plow through a book a week. I haven't decided if I will read the second book in the series or not. (2018, 400 p.)