I know I have been in a very good, very focused place for reading recently, which is why I felt like it was the right time to read this, but I am stilI know I have been in a very good, very focused place for reading recently, which is why I felt like it was the right time to read this, but I am still shocked by how quickly I finished this book. That it could be so dense with lore and history and description, and still flow so well without letting any of those things down, is truly a rare thing. will cut for spoilers, read if you like:
- characters with strong voices and layered dialogue - themes of race, class, imperialism without any of the symbolic, watered down bullshit most genre fiction uses to avoid having to reckon with whiteness. everyone's human here and our heroes are brown. primary focus is on the oppressed with all of the main cast surviving under its shadow in one way or the other - sweet hets - effortless feminism, women who are terrible and good, women who are good but kinda enjoy being terrible more than they expected, - SPACE. expansive but accessible scifi, the author takes us to several locations all lushly described with good environmental storytelling. it's sweeping in a way that almost feels more like fantasy. - mm, fabrics (view spoiler)[ I LOVE ALL THE KIDDOS. I love Amani who uses her strong connection to her people to survive and find strength but also contextualize everything that happens to her, how hard she works to grasp for agency when it could so easily get her killed. How she makes space to understand Maram's cruelty. How the trappings of power and her own anger caused her to almost give into cruelty herself a few times was also really cool. Her feelings for her family were deeply resonant, to me, I loved how she used her connections to her siblings to connect with Maram.
And Maram who is her mirror both externally and internally, who must push her mother's culture away but won't destroy any of the iconography around her. who is cruel and bitter but you understand her almost from the start, not in a way that excuses it but in a way that's good character work. And which only makes it more delicious when she tries on goodness. I love her so much. I want more. I have such hopes for her.
And Idris! What I liked best about the romance is how quickly they settled into a sense of comfort and safety with each other, physically and otherwise. I liked it because they both needed it, deserved a reprieve, and when another person becomes home that is the best thing in romance. There's so much more going on with him than I expected and I think the way all three characters navigate their own oppression is so well done as way of exploring the different and insidious ways imperialism destroys lives. I also cannot wait for more Arinaas. (hide spoiler)]
Late last year I made a new friend and found out this book existed and, as such I am very late to it but very happy to be here. This book is rich, unique and told with so much love. Pick her up. ...more
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