This had the potential to be a wonderful book but for me it fell kind of flat. The world building was just not helpful and lackluster. There were so many place we get introduced too but know nothing about or how to compare anything too. I liked the characters enough, but overall they were blah with the author almost trying too hard. It was difficult to get behind it all because only a couple years had passed, people probably would've been able to put it all together(unlike the original monte cristo). It was an ok read, maybe the next one will bring it all together, but this was one of the most anticipated books for 2020 and it really wasn't a great read. It had it's elements that were ok, but not enough to be something I was excited to keep reading.