This book was a delight. More of a 4.5 star read for me, but I'm rounding up because 1] I really enjoyed it and 2] it brings the average score closer to my ideal score here.

I really love plots that are circular, by which I mean everything that's said or done has a distinct purpose that adds itself back into the plot at the appropriate moment, and it feels like nothing in this book that was done was wasted as a result. It also meant that I would pick up on things in advance, leading me to pick out things that I was pretty sure were going to happen. I often figured things out just before they actually did, which was a lot of fun because I felt very vindicated when it did in fact happen a page or a chapter later.

Just as a word of warning, this is definitely a book that doesn't hold it's punches. You got attached to that character? The author is gonna just laugh at that attachment and kill them. That said, the obvious main characters are safe - at least so far. This is not an author who fears killing her darlings.

Without giving away any spoilers, the plot was very enjoyable. The characters were solid and believable. The world building was absolutely fascinating. The only aspect that gave me pause were little things that gave me personal pause, but ultimately didn't hurt the book in any way. The writing flows beautifully. It was really easy to just keep reading.

I will definitely be reading on in the series. I highly recommend it.