I adored this book! This is a gender swapped retelling of the Count of Monte Cristo, featuring Amaya (Silverfish), who saves a man from drowning while aboard the Brackish, a debtor's ship, where she was sold as a child. The man promises her riches and revenge, and together, although inadvertently, they escape the ship together and hatch a plan where Amaya masquerades as the mysterious and wealthy Count Yamaa in order to seek revenge on the captain of the Brackish, and a merchant that Amaya believes to have been involved in her father's death and her mother's sale of her. Along the way, she meets Cayo, Mercado's only son, and plans on using him to get to his father. Meanwhile, Cayo's sister has fallen ill, and he tries to figure out a way to help get her the medication she needs to get better, which is extremely expensive. He ends up uncovering further mysteries about the city, corruption, and his father, when his friend and ex-lover Sebastien comes to him for help.

Tara Sim has created a beautiful, vivid world filled with wonderful, flawed, complex characters. The story is told from dual POVs of Amaya and Cayo. Amaya Chandra is a girl with her heart set on revenge after finishing a stint on a debtor's ship. Her story and journey is heartbreaking and filled with mystery. Cayo Mercado is an ex-drunken playboy trying his best to make things right and take care of his sister. He's a bit of a mess, but a very endearing mess at that; he's trying so hard! Admittedly, the side characters are a little undeveloped, but I would love to hopefully see more of them in the sequel (Liesl!! Roach!!), and I loved the sexual diversity among the cast.

The book is jam-packed with action and twists and turns that kept me, as someone who's unfamiliar with the original Count of Monte Cristo, on edge and anxious to finish reading. The book ends on a bittersweet note, opening up to the conclusion in book 2, which I await eagerly!