I really wanted to enjoy this book, the premise seemed cool, but this just wasn’t it. I was honestly a little surprised that this book got picked up and published by a big 5 house. Because it’s riddled with poor writing and bad pacing.

If we played a drinking game where I took a shot every time the author wrote “rose gold,” I’d be in the hospital.

If I took a shot every time the author had the characters DRINKING, just for a means to let them sit around and have boring conversations, I’d be in the hospital. It’s like the author immediately ran out of ideas for how to make characters interact.

It took more than half the book for anything to be remotely interesting plot-wise, because it took half the book for the author to get to The Book’s Actual Plot. The amount of setup was entirely unnecessary and I probably could have skipped it all and lost nothing. And the plot itself was interesting for a few chapters, and then I just got bored. The writing style is meh. The plot execution was not great. The plot twist was cliche as hell, and not even in a campy or fun kind of way.

And the relationships: I didn’t feel all that compelled to root for either of the love interests. I love enemies to lovers when it’s executed well. But this? This was just two people with rather dislikeable personalities “oh you broke up with me so i hate you but also i love you” and there was literally no chemistry between either of them imo. And some of the side relationships. I’m supposed to feel empathy for Nix losing Quian in a mission four years prior. I did not feel any empathy, because other than “he was my best friend” we get next to NOTHING about who this person was. I was never given any reason WHY i should care about this.

And listen! At a first glance? This concept sounds SO cool. Lesbian steampunk deep-ocean exploration??? Count me in!!! It’s a shame that I disliked this book as much as I did. I didn’t dnf because I was stubborn, but this book frustrated me beyond belief.

Pardon me while I cry a whole bunch.

This whole series has meant the world to me as a queer person watching the government erase the queer community’s rights. And this book in particular means the world to me, in part because of one little thing: the dedication. In another part, because of Klune’s acknowledgements—swearing to be the Anti-JK Rowling. Seeing this in print, from someone I will never know, in a random book that I chanced upon entirely because my mother wanted something for us to read at the beach, means everything to me. I had no clue these books were queer, going in. And i’m so glad they were.

Review-wise, where do I even start? The charming family? The kids calling Arthur and Linus ‘Dad’ and ‘Papa’? The humor? The shenanigans? The intense but much-needed critique on government oppression of minorities? Everything about this book was charming, heartwarming, harrowing, hopeful. I’m so attached to all these characters, and the narrative was well executed. I kept turning the page. I blasted through this book in a week, I think, and I NEVER read that fast!

This book gives me hope that maybe, despite everything, the world can be made into a better place. So long as we fight for it.

Hope is the thing with feathers, yes, and hope is the thing with fire.

Thank you, TJ Klune.