Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hmm. This was super unique when it came to the plot and world building. I think that going from past to present was an interesting narrative choice, but I’m not sure how much it actually added to the story. When it came to the characters, I was left wanting more in general. Jia didn’t feel very fleshed out. She had her family loyalty and her anger/revenge, but I didn’t feel connected to either of those. The relationships she had with the people around her felt lackluster too. Jia and Lin’s situationship felt meh, and her anger at his betrayal felt unfounded for like 75% of the book. Also I hate when the non-white female main character has a white love interest that seems set up to be end game, so I didn’t like Jia’s relationship with Essian either. Both “romances” felt very lackluster and superficial. If character relationships are going to be driving plot points, I need more from those relationships because a plot driven by relationships does nothing if those relationships aren’t substantial, and unique plot points and worldbuilding cannot save a relationship driven book.