Witness me once again complaining that a novella isn’t a full novel. Or at least not a slightly longer novella. Because I felt that almost half of the minuscule page count was spent on the set-up, and then once we got to the meat of the story, it just flew past in a flurry of (admittedly, very engrossingly written) action scenes. Which is such a great pity for me, because the concept of an emperor’s Shadow General finally getting an order she wouldn’t be able to live with and snapping is so cool to me. I would have loved to see this arc play out fully.

I would have also loved to explore the setting more, with all of its magical and futuristic elements, and to learn more about the Djinnis. Also, I feel very invested in the politics of the world and in the aftermath of Edo’s actions for the empire. This is one of those rare instances when the setting is my favorite part about the book, and I’m sad about the fact that I don’t get to hang out in it more. Really, it’s so ripe with potential—there’s enough for a whole epic series here!

Overall, I liked the concept of the story, LOVED the settings, and am very into the fact that the protagonist is a badass older woman. But it was just too condensed for me to truly enjoy the story, and I also have to admit I didn’t vibe with the prose style.