I struggled with this one. Some bits I really loved, in particular city in the throes of a massive technological shift, which is itself the outcome of a stalled war. The descriptions of the biological technologies were wonderful, very vivid, and this idea of a literally living city worked well with the mechanisms of the magic system as it was revealed. 

But other bits felt overblown or out of control. The commentary on social injustice was obvious and unsubtle. Yes, cops like to exercise power in shady ways; yes, it sure is unfair when people are queerphobic. Yawn--not because I think these are not real problems, but because they're such mundane problems that lingering on them in long introspective monologues is just boring. There's nothing new said here that you couldn't find on your basic social media platform among the most mainstream lefties. 

The interconnection of the gods and folklore felt slightly diffuse. It seemed like the author was trying to show a parallel between the politics and perception of the gods, and the politics and perception of the humans, but the connections never felt quite clear, and the gods felt underdeveloped. There was a brief field trip to an entirely different island to explore an entirely irrelevant bit of god-related (ish) backstory to the main plot that could definitely have been edited out.

I also think the politics of the humans could have been better developed, because as it was, the entire reason the antagonists come up with their horrible plot is because . . . 'rawr I evil kill everyone and rule the survivors'...? And the nature of their schemes felt a bit scattershot. First they seem to be trying to frame an antagonist nation to break an apparent ceasefire, stirring up fear in an attempt to justify injustice in the name of exigency. But as their plot ripens to completion, it becomes rapidly clear that there's no point trying to frame any other nation in this, since the people for whom the charade is being played out are hardly going to be taking up arms and exploding into jingoistic fury. Not when they're melted into each other, and the neighbourhood horses and birds and sea creatures in the harbour in a mass of dying body-horror. So what was the point of all the institutional and social engineering shenanigans, when the end goal was so extreme as to render it all moot?

Even beyond these broad structural issues, I found myself getting bored, putting off washing the dishes because this book (consumed on audio) was not a comfortable accompaniment. The character arcs were not engaging, and the relationship I found the most interesting--between our main character and her older mentor-colleague, the one unsullied cop left on the force--faded away, to be replaced by another, different older mentor-colleague cop who looks dirty, but is actually virtuous when it matters. It was as if the author wanted this kind of relationship, but couldn't decide which type of cop to put in the role, and so divided one role between two people, such that neither felt fully realized. 

Anyway, I could go on, but I won't. I was disappointed--especially because the imaginative conceit was pretty great.  There was some really good stuff there. But it needed a lot more developmental editing than it got.