This book was dense, and most authors could probably spread this content across a whole trilogy, but I loved it all the same. There were moments here and there I got a little lost, but that might be due to me taking quite a long time to read this, plus listening to it on audio (and my mind wandering for moments here and there despite my interest).

First, I love that this book is set in a world where being queer is normal, and we didn't have to deal with any homophobia or hate for the queer characters. They were able to just love who they loved, and the only issues about relationships were based on class/race (which was the main issue of the book overall, so this makes sense). It just made me really happy, just getting to see all these women love each other, and not getting shit for that aspect of their lives.

I've read a lot of books about rebellions, and the colonizers learning (willingly or not) that their occupation was not wanted nor needed, and being forcibly removed. I haven't read a lot of books where one of the POVs is one of the colonized, but who has been raised as a colonizer, and it was really intriguing reading this story from her point of view. Touraine had to deal with hate from all angles, had to confront her biases of her own people forced on her by the colonizers at a young age, and try to figure out what she wanted for herself, away from the manipulation of those around her. Luca, the queen/heir/princess, was also an interesting point of view, as a colonizer, because she was overall a gray character. She wasn't anti-rebellion, but she also wasn't pro-colonizer (her own country). She straddled a line of wanting to help those hurting and recognizing the victims of colonization as such, and as members of her kingdom that needed protecting, but also being unwilling to fully leave and sacrifice her potential title and what the colony did for her country. She was constantly rationalizing her decision to stay, or pushing off actual action until she was in a safer position of power, and this book was her learning that change isn't always safe, and sometimes you just have to push for what is right, no matter the personal cost. It meant she had to learn alongside Touraine, but we didn't have a phase of her being horrendously racist and horrible just to see her grow later. She was far from perfect, and allowed for the suffering of the colonized to continue, and we still were able to see her grow from this without having her start off as irredeemable.

It's hard to specifically discuss the plot without spoilers, since so much happens in this book beyond what the synopsis introduced. It's a story that kept me on my toes, unsure of what would happen next. Touraine was in many positions in this book as she learned her culture and country again, and each position led to a new angle for the plot to take and tell the story from. I think I'm still getting used to the insane amount of content adult fantasy contains in terms of plot, but I loved how full this book was, and how no moment felt stagnant or like we were waiting for something to happen.

Overall, I loved this and I can't wait to read the sequel! (I also can't wait to read more of the 2021 sapphic BIPOC fantasy trifecta!)