This felt like a mix of R.F. Kuang's Babel, Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines series, and Micaiah Johnson's The Space Between Worlds, and I think I'll have to revisit it in the future.

Metal from Heaven is not a light book by any means. It can be a bit hard to navigate at times, and the themes are incredibly deep and heavy. It challenges societal issues we still face now, and it approaches them fearlessly and without sugarcoating. Also, the prose is beautiful. I am always jealous of people who can write purple prose so easily, and the narration style of this novel was strikingly beautiful, especially in the last few chapters.
The reason I didn't rate this book as highly is because I struggled with the plot and the pacing. This could be me going into a reading slump, or it could just be that I missed early details accidentally, but I felt that the pacing jumped around a lot, and every time I got a firm grasp on what was happening and what would come, I was thrown into a whole new setting. At its heart, this book is a story of vengeance and revolution. It's bloody, it's ruthless, and it's full of important messages. That being said, I just struggled to find myself fully engrossed in the story. The beginning and the ending were great, but the middle lost me a bit. (I'm also not typically a fan of political fantasies, so my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt.
I also found it a bit difficult to relate to the characters. That's probably the point; the cast is mostly unlikable, but that's to prove a point. I did enjoy Marney's narration style and her arc as she pursued revenge. However, I didn't feel attached to many other characters, partially because they were frequently introduced all in one chunk, so I sometimes struggled to differentiate between them.
Metal from Heaven is a gritty, revolutionary novel about vengeance, greed, and what happens when a person is pushed to their limits.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.5/5