This Golden Flame was one of my most anticipated debuts this year and I wasn’t disappointed. The story and plotting hits the ground running; Emily does a fantastic job of orienting the reader very quickly regarding the world we are reading about, who our main protagonist is and her motivations. The enter Alix, a sentient automaton who is a total cinnamon-roll (I have no shame in admitting this is my most favourite type of character!). 

 

As with a few other of my reads for pride month, the world in this book is queer-normative. Karis is asexual, and there are a variety of other queer and non-binary characters. Not to mention a sight-impaired character. 

 

I only wish there was a sequel! The world Emily has created is so rich with many countries mentioned in passing. There was a lot of build-up and then so suddenly it felt like the story had ended; I would love some more exploration and fleshing out of this world in the future.