This novella was odd and alluring and I think, for me, not quite a great match. So let's start with the good--this world is fascinating. The way the science of the way pocket worlds function, and all the quirks of their magic, is rife for exactly the sort of tragedy and ruin this book needed to bring. Learning about the world alongside the main character lets you experience the same tragedy of understanding with her in a very satisfying way. I didn't mind the way the finer details of the science were glossed over, because I'm rarely in it for hard sci-fi anyway. I really enjoyed these parts of the novella, despite the sometimes soul-crushing despair.

However, I found myself rather disappointed in the characters and prose. All of the characters presented here were a little bit two dimensional and distant. We are given some handful of facts about them, but they never quite realize into a whole person. I think this is mostly the fault of a rather purple prose that made it hard to stick with the characters train of thought in their highest and lowest moments. Additionally, the themes/message itself had a similar flower-y nature to them, perhaps appropriate to the botanist love interest, but not quite connected with the brutality and tragedy of the world that I was most enjoying. The ending fell pretty flat, for me.

Despite my disappointments, I would still recommend this book to any one interesting in tragic, magic time travel. It reminds me quite a bit of the sort of twisted wish granting you'd find in The Magicians.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tordotcom for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.