"So, what will you say at my funeral now that you've killed me, Rebecca Roanhorse?" -Beyoncé, I think

Okay, so that quote isn't from Beyoncé, but it is how I'm feeling right now! Roanhorse said she wanted to take on an epic, and wow, did she?!

This is the first book in the Between Earth and Sky series and I am so excited to read the next book. There were so many things I liked about this novel. The magic was really interesting! I can't wait to see it expanded even more in the next book. Mermaids are also very cool! Also, the setting. Roanhorse has a way of crafting three-dimensional landscapes. I felt like I understood where I was, what the different cities (and the sea) were like. But can I just express appreciation over the shifting POVs? I usually don't like books that change POVs because I get invested in one character over the others. This novel doesn't have that problem. I actually really enjoyed all of the people we followed in this book. All of the characters felt well-developed, or at the very least interesting. I particularly loved Xiala, our bisexual icon. And Serapio...oh, god. He made my heart ache.

The casual queerness in this novel was so well done. I loved it. Roanhorse did a great job of including nonbinary, trans, and LGBTQ people in this novel without having to explain their queerness, or having it be a plot point. It was very satisfying to read.