Thank you to Tordotcompub / Tor Publishing Group for a chance to read an arc this book! 🖤

5⭐️ the inside is just as beautiful and fascinating as the cover! | tropes: sapphic novella, dragons + knights | digital

Overall Thoughts 💭:
I devoured this book in one day and feel like that's the best way to enjoy it. I loved how the prologue set the themes of the story up. I could see some people viewing it as heavy-handed but I feel like it made the story come full circle. The world-building was interesting. Even though it was a novella, I felt like the world and the side characters felt three-dimensional and fleshed out. I loved Yeva, like deeply. I think my own experiences growing up in predominately white spaces made me empathize with her from the jump. Yeva's blood from her Father being this tool that makes her a guildknight and therefore worthy while her mother's blood being what makes those around her cruel to her even as she tries to assimilate into their language and world. I really empathized with her desire to fit in and finally be accepted as her job as a guildknight becomes her whole identity. I feel like a pillar for nationalism is uniformity and she fell right into that.  I loved seeing how her arrival to Quanboa changes her.  Lady Sookhee was a different then I expected her to be in the best way. I thought she would be more secretive but she was so kind and allowed Yeva to break down her walls and be free to be a person. The climax and secrets revealed on this story were a little predicable but still made my heart race because I didn't truly know what Yeva was going to do and that's what made the story a real five star for me! I need to read more from Neon Yang! Their other novellas much be as queer and fun as this one!