If I typed up a synopsis of the story and the world-building it would seem like a perfect fit: a space opera Joan of Arc retelling in a queernormative world where AI and science-minded Heretics are in an ongoing battle with the devout who view technology as gifts from above. This is the type of book I expected to consume, but ultimately it didn’t quite land.

We’re following Misery Nomaki, who is either the next Messiah or is currently succumbing to a delusion which will eventually lead to death-by-voidmadness. She finds herself in the center of the Empire with an opportunity: convince everyone that she is the long-awaited prophet all while out-maneuvering the political leaders so she doesn’t end up a pawn in their terrible war.

I flowed in and out of the story, and it often struggled to keep my attention. We are VERY limited with Misery’s viewpoint (especially as she dives deeper into fanaticism and blocks out anything that challenges that worldview), and it felt like side characters floated in-and-out & curiosities were just out of reach. 

Some of the language also really didn’t work for me (ie. slang that felt out of place in this world), and outside of Misery, we didn’t get much character development. And Misery is a frustrating lead. I thought we might get some expansion towards the ending, but it ended up SO rushed. 

I like an unreliable narrator, but I found Misery so unreliable that I ended up clearly seeing the “twist” ending at maybe 25% into the book. 

I was intrigued by the interplay of religion and science, and the evolution of beliefs in this world. I also enjoyed the way Yang blocks battle scenes - and I’m typically someone who prefers character-driven work over explosive action, so I was pleasantly surprised by how gripping I found the war content.

I also appreciated how specific and fresh a lot of the sci-fi elements of this world were.  

CW: war, murder, death, mass death, violence, religious bigotry, medical content, psychosis, confinement, drug use, torture, kidnapping, body horror, sexual content, vomit

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