Ahoy there mateys!  The main characters of a bio-prosthetic surgeon and her personal AI are what captivated me about the book.  Saint Enita Malovis is one of the city's elite thanks to the sacrifices her family made when the city was founded in order to save humanity after the cataclysms.  She does not have to work but chooses to be a surgeon.  She has no children so she decides to create a body for her house's AI system, Nix, and train it to take over when she dies.  Cool right?

The set-up and history of how the city is structured was fascinating.  I loved Saint Enita and Nix's relationship.  I loved the body horror in how they grow prosthetics.  I also appreciated the body horror in Body Martyrs and how they donate organs to the elite in return for credits towards living expenses.  There is also a murder with interesting ramifications for why the city is failing.

I managed to get to 61% of this novel before I found it dragging.  The problem was that I was not interested in the newer characters and the revolution.  I also found that a lot of the world building and the politics did not always make sense and ended up being confusing once the setting extended outside of Saint Enita's home.

The ideas here were worth exploring but the novel didn't seem to have a strong focal point.  There was the AI portion of Nix exploring the world with a new body and then the sections about the poor and how they are exploited. But overall it became muddy in both plot and purpose.  However, what I did enjoy was evocative.  I am willing to try whatever the author writes next.  Arrrr!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.