I'm not really sure how to rate this novel. I liked the characters enough and the world seemed interesting. But it felt like the plot didn't really kick up until 75% of the way through. And the ending twist was really unexpected but not in a particularly good way. It was so far out of left field that it felt like a slap. There was not nearly enough foreshadowing to justify the way the ending went. It also felt a lot like The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms trilogy but not as expertly written. IDK, I'm curious enough about it to read the sequel probably but I don't know if I really enjoyed it. I'm going to give it a three but it's likely either a 3.5 or a 2.5 so three is a rounded up or down depending on how I feel about it given time and distance from it.