While this story had an interesting premise, I felt that it had too much detail in all the wrong places. The plot drags under the weight of minute details Broun provided, yet in some passages I did not feel like I could adequately make sense of what was happening, because it was described too briefly. This only became more frustrating to me as the book continued and I became increasingly invested in Cuthbert's mission and survival. Getting to know and understand Cuthbert and the way he thinks was undoubtedly the highlight of this story. I was irritated when the book switched to another character's perspective, though I did grow to like Astrid too. I would only recommend this book to patient readers. The story has merit, but it is winding, overly detailed, and leaves us with an ambiguous ending.