"Monsters were nothing. The true terrors were people like me--the ones who saw suffering, who heard the screams of a hundred generations echoing for miles around them--and still did nothing."

 

First, can we talk about how this is the most visually stunning book on my shelf? The art on both covers and flaps, the gold foil details, the map, the art for each part heading... Sometimes I just pause to look at it some more because I'm obsessed. 

 

In terms of content, I'm a sucker for political intrigue, and this ya fantasy DELIVERS in that (and all) categories. Expansive world-building? Check.  High stakes political conflict and mysterious stakeholders? Check and check. Moral questions through clever plot vehicles? Um, yeah, it's a check.

 

I think what really makes the book tick is the complex relationships. Particularly protagonist Tarisai's relationship with her mostly absent mother is fraught with manipulation and even outright emotional abuse. There is a lot for Tarisai to learn about who her mother is and what ambitions drive her, and there's still an affection-starved child within her reaching for a mother's love. Each new unmasked secret muddies the water and turns Tarisai's view from her personal struggle to bigger concerns about the systems she's been trained to uphold. This darkness is balanced in equal measure with the joyful light of Tarisai's found family. There's a cute but not overpowering love story, friends who protect Tarisai from her worst self and believe in her whole-heartedly, and magical beings with lessons to impart. All these elements move together in effortless concert. As Tarisai seeks her life's purpose to overcome a curse, she asks, "What story will you live for?"