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poemsarelikepeople 's review for:

5.0
adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’m officially a Xiran Jay Zhao fan. (Though let’s be fair I already was after Iron Widow). I was in a loooong reading slump and this book ended it easily; it was packed with action while still providing lots of food for thought. I think there were so many interesting moral questions to think about in this book and I loved the weaving of history and sci-fi (as was to be expected of Xiran Jay Zhao). I also loved reading Zach’s inner monologue and him figuring stuff out. And the cultural observations and critique! I hope to read more of Zachary’s story in the future (especially him figuring out his feelings for Simon maybe??)