Auben is an engaging, morally grey protagonist. The voice of Icy Blue compels him to do terrible things, but he'd done not-as-terrible things before his possession. This is a society with 3 genders, and there's a trans side character. There's a lot of conflicts in this book - Auben v himself, Auben v Kasim, religious v secular factions, etc.. Towards the end, it felt like some things got lost in the shuffle and that not every plot line was given its dues. I generally liked that I didn't know where the plot was going and that the characterizations felt consistent. This was a thrilling read, and I zipped through it.