My first book by Samantha Shannon and I was not disappointed.

I want to keep this review short because this book is long and I think I could go on and on forever otherwise. But I really, really enjoyed it. The world is so rich and diverse and detailed. I could spend hours getting lost in the history and culture and mythology. You can really see how much research and work went into building up this book and it's super impressive.

I also loved the writing style. There's just something about being able to pick up where you left off and easily slip back into the story. The writing had a nice flow and it was actually easy and quick to read. I find some longer books have me stopping every little bit and rereading because I'm confused with the prose or the descriptions are so dense I forget what is actually happening in the scene. This book wasn't like that at all, and it makes me look forward to reading more of Samantha Shannon's books.

My favourite POVs have to be Ead, Loth, and Tané (in that order), with Niclays last lol. I really didn't like Niclays a whole lot. He was annoying and frustrating and quite selfish and single-minded. And while it makes sense why he is the way he is, and we also see how Tané isn't quite innocent, I just felt for her character more than I did Niclays. Maybe because I expected more from an older, experienced adult than from a twenty-year old, even though now that I'm writing this out, I realize that adults aren't perfect either. I just wasn't a huge fan of his chapters and tried to get through them quickly so I could get to the others.

I absolutely love Loth so much. I headcanon him as aroace. He's just so kind and thoughtful and loyal. He's a soft boi and he's my soft boi and I just want him to be happy and healthy.

Tané's POVs were amazing. I loved the character growth she went through and her story made me feel the most out of the others.

Ead's chapters were also ones that I anticipated getting to. They're so intense and fast-paced and she's such a strong, resilient character. The glimpses of court politics and just life in Inys were so interesting. I think they were my favourite parts of the whole book.

I really hope we get more from this world because I want to know what happens next, not just with Ead, but with the other characters too. We do have some unanswered questions at the end there which has me very curious.

The plot itself was a whirlwind. I loved the slow-paced style, watching everything unfold gradually, and different storylines coming together. There were so many moments when I was shocked and just sitting in bed with my mouth hanging open. I will admit though that the end felt a little rushed. I did see Samantha Shannon's Twitter thread about this and while I get the reasoning behind it, it was a little jarring going from a more sedate pace, to suddenly everything is happening very quickly. It almost felt like we were being told what was happening, instead of being shown. Ead would come up with a plan, and the next chapter they would carry it out right away. Whereas things before were more gradual. And it isn't like things were necessarily happening quicker, it's just that we weren't shown the in-between steps. And I kind of missed those moments.

I don't think the faster pacing at the end detracted from the book entirely. While the final battle scene happening super fast (and I will admit I was kind of confused about which ship was where and who it belonged to and which ones were destroyed or burning and trying to keep track of which characters are on which ship), the conclusion was satisfying overall. I really liked how we got a few chapters at the end from each POV. It was nice to get to see the characters moving on after what happened and seeing where life would lead them next.

Overall 4/5 stars.