The only other book that I’ve read by Naomi Novik previous to this one was Uprooted and this book feels similar in the best ways. The relationship between Mireyim and Wanda is interesting and is a reflection of the world that the story takes place in. Mireyim and Wanda are both forced into making the best of their circumstances. Mireyim is intelligent and cunning and does what she has to in order to fend for her family since her father doesn’t step up to the plate. Her father if anything is one of the worst parts of the book, and not because he is a bad addition to the book, but just because he’s a spineless freeloader who abuses his family when he gets drunk. For what he was supposed to be, he is very well done, though. He isn’t supposed to be likeable and is meant to be an incentive for Mireyim to grow into being the main breadwinner in her family. Ironically Wanda ends up becoming the same for her family as she is forced to work under Mireyim in order to pay off her father’s debt. Her father was another nasty piece of work. Irina, despite being of more noble birth than Mireyim and Wanda had her own cross to carry as well as a woman in this setting. The husband she married was literally going to feed her to an evil demon. Thankfully, the story weaves all three of the women’s lives together so beautifully and shows off how intelligent and quick witted they all are as they are pushed to survive within their circumstances. I really enjoyed getting to explore Steryk and Mireyim’s relationship because despite them not taking liking to each other at all for most of the book, they end up having a huge amount of mutual respect. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and I’m looking forward to reading more books by Naomi Novik.