This is a 3.5 star book for me. It made me wish that I had read "The Count of Monte Cristo" more recently so I would be able to draw more parallels. Amaya, also known as "Silverfish", is so close to being done with her term on a debtor's ship and so ready to return to her mother. Of course, things don't go smoothly when she decides to rescue a man in the ocean, and gets time added on to her service. Cayo is trying to recover from time spent in the gambling dens, to regain his father's trust and save his sister from the ash fever that is ravaging the country. Their lives slowly draw together and eventually collide.

This book is told in dueling perspectives, and for the most part I really enjoyed it. There were times when I wanted to shake both of them, but I can't deny that their actions make sense for the characters. It's a little bit bloody. Characters are bisexual and a range of skin tones, although the main romance is between a man and a woman.