astravars's Reviews (124)

very wholesome and fun story as well as characters, loved it

(everyone is lgbtqia+ in some way)

Every time I thought there was no way I could love this book even more than i already did it gave me a reason to do exactly that.

Let's start with what I didn't like

The beginning was honestly a little slow and I had a hard time really getting into the book but once the plot started picking up about halfway into the book I enjoyed it!

I wasn't a fan of the writing in Nausicaäs chapters specifically, especially in the beginning, but that too got better throughout the book.


However, I'm very attached to all of the characters, especially Vehan and Aurelian who should have gotten a little more on-page time in my opinion since I was a little more interested in their side of the plot.

The characters are all well fleshed out and I loved seeing the story develope from different point of views who all had different information and reasons for participating in their group investigation. They might have been my favourite thing about the book and the reason I ended up giving it 4 stars.

Another thing I loved about this book was the casual genderqueer representation in a lot of the side characters, especially the way most of their deities seemed to be genderqueer (this is even specifically expressed by one of the characters who complains about the term "gods" being too male for their predominantly genderqueer selves).


Overall my biggest complaint is probably the pacing and while the plot wasn't the most genius thing I've ever read I did find myself getting fully invested and needing to read the second book immediately once I'd finished it.

I definitely recommend this one if you want some characters to obsess over and to experience queer joy about the representation.

"Nirrim, I can't be good to you"
"Then be bad"

I loved this book so much. The romance between Sid and Nirrim made me feel so many feelings I can't even describe. The way they met, the falling in love,... 

I really enjoyed the plot as well. It deals with the topic of emotional manipulation/abuse in a way that gives me very much mother gothel from "tangled" vibes. There's also the whole, kind of dystopian ish, political situation which i really hated but loved the way it was dealt with. There's this thing the people Nirrim grew up with would say every time someone asked why something is a specific way. They'd say everything is as it is because it's always been that way. 

I tought the way the whole story was told, including the writing style, was really good (it has short chapters too which is a preference of mine) and I loved seeing Nirrim grow and realize things about her life she didn't see were wrong before.

I'm still not over the ending though, waiting for the second book to come out was the worst thing i would really recommend everyone to make sure they can get it before they finish this one.