Trigger Warnings for: child slavery, mutilation, eye horror, drugging, alcohol abuse, death of a child

March 4th, 2021

With the sequel coming out soon, I figured a reread was in order. Especially considering I read this before Covid, so you know, a million years ago.

I still really enjoyed this. Love Amaya and Cayo. Also really appreciate Romara more. I do wish some of the Landless and Bugs had been a bit more developed. They sort of felt like names without much personality, which is a shame because the Landless did seem interesting. Maybe we'll learn more about them in the next book.

I love how casually queer this book is. Cayo is bi or pan and nobody bats an eyelash. Roach is aroace, though he's not in it a lot. There's a casino dealer who uses they/them pronouns and it's completely normal. One character mentions something about wearing a binder (it was a bit awkward and clunky but I'll let it pass).

It's also interesting how, I've read this book before and knowing vaguely how it ended, I forgot the intricate web Sim weaves with the plot, so it got to surprise me all over again. I'm really looking forward to where this goes in the sequel and seeing more of this world.

Spoiler

I also think Boon is Amaya's dad, I'm calling it now.

January 16th, 2020

4.5 stars

It’s like Tara Sim knows I’m a sucker for angry women with knives and queer disaster boys. Which is to say I love Amaya and Cayo and I need the next book now. I can’t wait to learn more about the Empires and the politics of this world.