This book was fascinating. I've reached the point where it is no longer noteworthy to point out things like a non-overdone fantasy society or thoughtful use of real-world analogue in world-building (so hooray!) but The Tiger's Daughter is notable for the sheer number of things it is interested in doing. Like Martha Wells, Rivera isn't exactly interested in drawing attention to what it is she does; she's more concerned with doing it well and telling the story she wants to tell. The fact that she does so in a semi-epistolary format with a romance between two women that is not secondary to the plot, but instead the defining feature of it feels...odd to talk about since the book's own approach is very much "yes, yes, I know, I'm breaking with the norm in the genre, but can we get on with it, I have a narrative to get through!"
I'm pretty sure it works, I definitely want to read more; I'm just struck--on the level of style--how ordinary Rivera makes the extraordinary.