I love most stories that deal with mythology and gods, and what it means to be divine. This book delivered exactly what I wanted in that regard, and I think in the end I really enjoyed this and the time I spent in the world, but it did feel like a book much longer than it actually was.

For this reason, I don't think this book is necessarily for everyone. I did listen to the audio of this, which helped in the moments the story may have dragged otherwise. I may have had more issues with the length and pacing of the story had I been reading this using my eyes instead. The story overall was a really long journey, interspersed with some action here and there. However, there are many moments where the main character is alone, or isolated in a group of people, and a large portion of this book is told through the main character narrating her story to us vs. lots of dialogue. We spend a lot of time with just the main character, to the point that some trains of thoughts can begin to feel repetitive. However, even with the length of this story and it's many slow moments, I feel like Long did a good job of keeping Hessa's thoughts unique and interesting, and seeing her grapple with her beliefs was interesting. And, while the story did feel noticeably long, I was never tired of it, forced to pause my audio and take a break.

However, my favorite part of this book had to be how it dealt with divinity, and the many layers the lore of the story had. I loved how it explored what it meant to be a god, to have followers and powers and magic, and the assumed connection between the two that is tested. I can't explain much here without spoiling, but the lore of this world felt like a closed rose opening, with each new petal unfurled revealing a new hidden layer of the magic of this world. It kept me hooked even when much wasn't happening at the time in terms of action/plot. I can't wait to see this world further explored.

The writing style also matched the story well. I really enjoyed the descriptions of places and people, and the battle scenes were also extremely well done. In those sorts of scenes, it's really easy to lose the reader in the clashes of swords and fists, but Hall of Smoke both explained the combat well enough I was able to follow it, while also remaining realistic in a sense. I also really loved how magic was explained in this story, and how well the very existence of it was woven into Hessa's experience of the world. For example, her goddess gifted her with fire magic that she channels through her mouth, and there were many moments where the story describes the build up of this magic in her lungs and throat to show Hessa's rising anger or frustration in scenes. And even though I don't know what it feels like to swallow down rising internal fire and taste ash in my mouth, the fact that Long tied this to emotion makes it easy for the reader to relate to and 'feel' alongside Hessa.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot, and thinking back on it is making me realize just how much. I can't wait to see what Long writes next, and I'm excited she's writing more in this world!