I knew as I dived into this book that this is dark fantasy. I mean the title and cover speak for themselves. However, I did read the novella, A Pale Box on the Distant Shore, for which the story was told from a different protagonist who was a little more upbeat. While he is present in this book, his is not the main point of view. He is merely a minor character here. I missed him!!

Instead we have Dust-Caste slave Thora for whom everything is a struggle. Primarily because she has to squeeze herself into a tiny little ball when she really wanted just to be herself; all in a bid to survive a world in which she cannot escape. This makes the read really frustrating a lot of the time and sometimes, depressing. I think you'd have to be in the right headspace to read this book.

As much as I was fascinated with this very red & extremely brutal world, the ending was a little bit disappointing. Yes, it sounds true to the reality of that universe but it's FICTION! I wanted something more; something that made the struggle through the story worthwhile. I'm not sure if I'm keen to know what Thora will get up to next; we'll see.

My thanks to Small Heart Press for ecopy of book via NetGalley in exchange of my honest thoughts