I picked this book up on a whim at my local bookshop last year purely based on its cover and HELLO NEW INSTA-BUY AUTHOR. 

 

The first 50 pages is a whirlwind explanation of the caste system built into this fantasy world, why it’s the way it is, and the current razor-edge politics at the current time. Basically, the Crow caste are the undertakers of this world and as such, are immune to a plague that can devastate communities. It’s their job to answer the call when plague affects towns, yet they are treated with contempt and considered the bottom caste. There a several tense and chilling scenes that parallel the KKK attacks on African-Americans in the South during the Crows travels on the road. 

 

My big make-or-break of any novel is there is a protagonist I want to barrack for, and Owens delivered strongly in the form of Fie. She’s fierce, skilled at what she does (and you see her growth in her skills throughout the book – no insta-power trope here), loyal and willing to do anything it takes for her caste to have better protection. Her anger at the state of her world bleeds from the book; I was willing to bring a pitch-fork to her cause by page 100!