Ok I was really not expecting to get so e m o t i o n a l while reading this book but here I am!

This is a fairly straightforward adventure/exploration story at first glance, but it gets a lot deeper than that as it goes. It includes a needed critique of colonization at a level that is accessible for younger readers. Loss and grief are surprisingly not avoided, and are in fact integral to the story.

I was not expecting their dad to be dead tbh that was so sad :(

And finally, the book discusses the topic of deciding whether or not to excuse corruption in one's family and what that means for the future of those traditional blood relationships. (which is coincidentally also a theme explored in my upcoming WIP yes this is shameless self promo I just thought the parallel was cool)

I'm looking forward to seeing how the next book expands on all this. This was the author's debut, so I can't wait to see her improvement on an already solid novel!