Whew, this story is intense and hard hitting.

I read an interview with the author where she said that she doesn't actually read a lot of fiction even though standard advice for authors is to be well read in the genre you are writing. She prefers to read non-fiction, history, because there is so much untapped inspiration for stories there. I think her approach is working well for her because honestly I haven't read fantasy that felt this sharp in a long time. It very explicitly criticizes colonialism, the patriarchy, and religion that underpins both.

"Here was the cage that kept women in, made them fearful, made them small. Here was the barrier that kept Kwen from plenty, siphoned their lives, and starved them into ravenous hordes. The cage and the barrier weren't different structures. They were components in the same machine, cast and forged for the same ultimate purpose."

Reminds me of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin.