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I really enjoyed this read! It basically reminded me of a mix of Gundam Wing and a medieval joust.

What I liked:
– Unique World Building
– Strong emotions (all the righteous rage and grief)
– Morality is in all shades of gray.
– Multi-POVs from characters with very contrasting perspectives
– Slowly unfurling political intrigue
– Solid audiobook narration

What I didn’t like:
– The relationship between Rax and Synali. While I like both Rax and Synali individually, their relationship felt a bit forced to me and rather stagnant. For some reason, I see this is listed in the romantasy genre and brahhh, that is inaccurate. This is a straight sci-fi.
– Very plot-driven. In general, there’s not a lot of deep, evolving relationships between the characters but that may be because… (see next bullet)
– This book doesn’t stand alone in any way. Most readers won’t mind this, but the end reads like we kind of dropped off in the middle of the book, and it’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine.

Recommended for those looking for an engrossing sci-fi with some interesting world building and intriguing political turmoil. (But definitely not a romantasy)

⭐⭐⭐⭐½

Thanks for reading!