I really had to just sit and stare at a wall for an hour after I finished reading this book to even begin digesting it. 

I can't even articulate all that I liked about this book and I'm sure that other reviewers have done so much better than I ever could. Every time I thought I had everything figured out, it managed to surprise me by taking it even further. Every time I thought "Will the author go there?" the answer was yes.

However, there is something that was bothering me about the way that race and eugenics were discussed and depicted in this book. The Masquerade assumes that race is a biological reality and that certain races are predisposed to certain traits or qualities. The book makes it clear that this is not only untrue but that eugenics is really just a way to legitimize imperialism. Then they introduce this character who is part of a group of

elite soldiers/spies (?) called the Clarified that have been "bred" to want to follow orders and serve the Masquerade. The problem with eugenics isn't that it's just morally/ethically wrong but also that it's bad science! There is no way that within the space of a few generations, a group of people could be "bred" to have certain personality traits that are so strong that it overrides any other aspect of their sense of self. It's literally like Harry Potter with the house elves that "like" being enslaved.

Edit: Upon reading the second book, I believe that the series is building up to address this critique of the Clarified by portraying it as a form of psychological conditioning (instead of "genetic" behavior) but it's such a subtle framing shift that I don't think most readers will pick up on it.