3.5 stars. I liked it! But the book is not really my genre so I liked it less than I might have otherwise. I would recommend this book to someone who likes Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom and revenge stories.

I really liked the characters and the idea of wearing different identities in different contexts/to accomplish different tasks. I love Cayo and his sisters's relationship. I also really loved the twist at the end and it made me very excited for the next book. I almost rounded up to 4 stars because it was so good but 3 felt more honest.

The reasons this book didn't connect with me as well are below:

1) Revenge stories. I feel like I should like the revenge element more than I did but I do find that I have a hard time connecting to revenge stories (which is what I meant by this not being my genre; Vengeful was kind of like that for me too). It's not that I don't understand the characters' emotions and motivations but that I just don't engage with it in the same way as book that starts with a different plot, something bad happens to characters we already knew and loved, and then they went out to get revenge. It's easier for me if I know and love the characters first, is what I mean.

2) Moray. The other thing that hindered my enjoyment of the book was the setting. I actually really like the setting in some ways--the different countries and cultures all mixing in an independent city-state, fighting to survive between two empires. That sounds interesting, politically. But I dislike cities like Las Vegas, like Ketterdam, like Moray. I don't enjoy being in them, in actuality or in books, so it hindered my enjoyment. But if you like that kind of thing, then you will definitely like this book.