Beyond Selidor

I've heard some people found the central romance offputting (it's an arranged marriage, it's deliberately echoing Pride and Prejudice in terms of how the characters react to each other), so that may have been what made you stop.

Honestly, that sounds great to me, and I don't think I made it more than a chapter in. I really think I just got distracted by other things, since I don't remember any negative feelings about the book whatsoever. I usually do have some sort of vague memory of disliking things when I stop for other reasons.

But possibly it might be better to start with Court of Fives. This is a YA trilogy, inspired by Little Women, set in a fantasy version of Ptolemaic Egypt, and it's ultimately about a revolution against colonisation, with the revolution led by women.

Um, that sounds amazing, and I definitely want to try it now! If it works for me, I'll give Crossroads a try too. Thank you!