Thank you N Two women embark on a unforgettable questinto a world of dark gods and ancient magicin this sweeping fantasy debut inspired by the history and folklore of colonial South America. I didn’t find Eva or Reina to be compelling protagonists. Their stories are largely them being manipulated and betrayed, which they are both unaware of despite how obvious it is. One big reveal about Eva was also very obvious, and the only surprising part is that she never suspected it. Because both Eva and Reina are outsiders to their non-human heritages, we don’t learn much about valco or nozariel culture, other than both are stronger than humans and have a natural facility with metal magic.

The lush and varied landscape as well as the clear effects of colonialism and revolution are all inspired by Venezuela, creating a rich, complex world... An ambitious new fantasy with a unique setting and broad cast of characters."— Kirkus Romero Lacruz excels in her enchanting world building, with lush descriptions of beautiful landscapes and vivid depictions of folklore and traditions with a hint of realism (aguinaldos and arepas are real, after all). Fans of N.K. Jemisin, Tomi Adeyemi, and Nisi Shawl will appreciate this fresh voice in fiction, especially when it comes to its commentary on colonialism, strong female characters, and the intricacies of magic used for good and evil.” ―Booklist Huge thanks and love to the reviewers who take it very seriously and aren't just in it for the likes, though - I LOVE YOU ALL, even the critical ones.) I started reading about the same time as the 'discourse' on this novel started taking off, and cringed at the full scale campaign of bullying which developed.This book is LONG. There's lots of political machinations. Too many characters. Sooooo many details. Slow pacing. And very few actual plot points happen. It's a serious journey to read this, and not a fulfilling one to me. This book could've honestly been pared down by a third, and you would've had no idea anything was missing.

In the first chapter, one of the main characters is almost killed while being chased, but I found myself completely apathetic towards her fate. The book tries to create a sense of urgency and emotional investment, but it fails to establish any reason for me to care about the characters in the first place. The book tells us about character relationships without adequately showing them, leaving me with nothing to empathize or connect with. The magic system in this book is utterly perplexing. While the narrative delves into long, tedious exposition and intricate details about various aspects, the magic system remains surprisingly vague. It seems to involve something related to minerals, but the explanation is unclear, and its connection to the gods is ambiguous. Despite its apparent significance and influence on the story, I find myself unable to provide a coherent description of how it works, which is quite frustrating.

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The denouement just kind of sputters out. The last two chapters did hint at some interesting developments for the sequel, but why exactly things turned out that way for Eva and Reina is beyond me. I was slightly disappointed by the magic system, as we were promised celestial magic. The magic felt, to me, to be mineral/ore/metal based rather than celestial-based. The gods are Sun/Void gods, but the magic that the mortals use is not celestial. So that was a promise that wasn't fulfilled. Pacing and Plot: The first chapter is exciting but then things slow down quite a bit. The plot doesn't really get moving again until a little past the 30% mark. This did take me a while to get through but it didn't necessarily bother me as I enjoyed the world building. And I really liked the story and where things ended up even if it took a while to get into the main plotline. We also have quite a lot of really detestable character such as Reina's grandmother, Celeste's uncle Javier (Celeste is Reina's friend and daughter and heir to the family she comes to live with) and Celeste's father. Each of these characters felt a bit one-dimensional, and really none of them have huge justification/rationale for their evil antics. They all have a 'reason' but I would have liked a little more insight into their thoughts and their views as I think some of the things they do really could have been fleshed out with a PoV from one of them.