I agree with some of the critical reviews, and to be honest if this wasn't a debut it would have probably been closer to 3 stars since that's where it hung out for me the majority of the narrative until it picked up near the end. But I don't want to be too mean, because while this book have some of the pitfalls common in debut fantasies, she also is able to, if not fix them, make them slightly work as the book goes on. And some of the issue questions I had were answered by the end, so I'll give her that as well.

Also there's no annoying talking animal companion only there to be a yes man/extension to the main character so that's an automatic+1 star. (That was one thing I couldn't forgive The Bone Shard Daughter or Six Crimson Cranes. Those talking animal companions were the worst and got worse as the books progressed and made reading them a chore.)

While there's an explanation for why the Ghostlings need their hands removed as the book finished, I thought the lack of anyone questioning it (slaves that don't have hands? No one questioned this?) Odd. None of the Dusters questioning the island/nowhere else until a map is found by the main character? Also odd. Propaganda only works so far. I just thought the entire lack of interest in anything in the world until the book starts in earnest a bit odd, that's all.

I also thought the constant fluctuating response to Anoor (either appreciative or fatphobic, often by the same character only paragraphs apart) could have been edited a bit better.

I thought Anoor's character a bit odd. She's a blue-blood Duster masquerading as a red-blood Ember and yet she acts as if all the privilege she has isn't hanging by a thread. Her character would have made more sense if she at least applied herself SOMEWHERE before the book starts, because you'd think she'd be highly aware of how precarious her situation is. Just the fact that the book starts with her ordering rare silks and acting like a spoiled brat is odd - both because her "mother" hates her and why'd she allow that, and also it would've made more sense if Anoor tried to prove her worth despite her blood. She knows her mother wants her dead, why isn't she at least planning on doing the trial for like, knowledge or something.

And, her decision to join under Strength instead of a position she'd be better at? And yet, with only like a few months training, starting from scratch, she succeeds??? And she decided this SOLELY because Sylah was trapped and she could force her to???? Like a last minute decision??? Why wouldn't she had decided under knowledge or something, why was strength her go-to? What is this, a bad action movie with a montage that suddenly makes her great? My biggest gripe is that this entire thing is like 5 months and yet she somehow hope-montages her way to success each time, beating people who've been training their whole lives for this. Ridiculous. Anoor should have lost the first trial and nothing else makes sense.

Also, Spoiler, but some of the editing was rough and parts of the narrative were clearly out of order. The one I noticed most obviously (which is honestly hard to do, since the majority of this was through audiobook) was that the Trial of Tactics was OUTSIDE during the tidewind. That was the entire point. Someone even died when their helmet was knocked off. So, to be clear, Anoor was out in the tidewind for the trials. A big plot point.
And then, literally TWO CHAPTERS LATER, this dialogue happens.

Anoor put her hand on her hip. "If we exit at this door here, swing round to the left and head through the cloisters, we'll only be outside for ten paces."
"Have you ever been outside in the tidewind?"
"No. Have you?" <----YES YOU HAVE????
"Yes, we were... camping..." (And then Sylah gives Anoor some edited backstory.)

WHAT.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN HAVE YOU EVER BEEN OUT IN THE TIDEWIND. THE ANSWER IS YES, LIKE A DAY OR SO AGO, AND SYLAH WAS WATCHING YOU DO IT. HELLO??!

Also, despite this being marketed as f/f, the majority of the romance scenes are m/f and the few f/f romance scenes are literally fade to black with almost no information, while the m/f either aren't or give us more information before fading to black. Also, Sylah and Jond have absolutely NO chemistry. None. You could not for an instant make me believe that there was a romance there. It was plain, boring, and honestly kind of perfunctory. She sees him again, and then suddenly they have sex. That's it. I get it, but still. Anoor and Sylah had slightly more chemistry, but honestly, only in comparison to her and Jond. I feel this book would have been more solid with the flimsy romances removed.

However, (I know I've been mean) I think this book was a good solid foundation for the world building to continue and for the narrative to expand. I feel like most of these issues were more to do with it being a debut, and needing to write more to get better at it, as with anything.
(But did the map have to be so ugly??