I see the skeleton of a fascinating and intricate story, but the meat of it is just lacking. The book crumbled under the weight of its own short-sightedness and fatuity. Every fundamental element was slightly — if not very — off, and that made the reading experience extremely frustrating.

I'll start off with the positives: again, the bare bones of this inveigled me with the promise of a political fantasy that thoroughly examines social hierarchies, and how revolution often forces certain paths to intersect, when they otherwise wouldn't have. A handful of plot elements were intriguing, and the last 20% kept me relatively hooked.

Onto the negatives! The world-building is so utterly incoherent, which is a shame because it is the bedrock of this novel. Quite literally every other element hinges on the social dynamics set up by the world-building — except those dynamics don't make any sense! Weavers become more volatile if they don't use their powers (the city literally has frequent tremors because of this), which would probably lead to government to either invest heavily in controlling this population by training them, or eradicating them. Not condoning those actions, but that route makes far more sense than the more casual disdain and stigma that is present in the novel. There is also nothing interesting done with how magic influences the existing rigid gender norms. Tangentially, I find it very strange that the only progressive male character was a white man, but I digress.

The oppression also felt very surface-level. Again, the fact that magic isn't taken into account is baffling; magic isn't even used as a tool or weapon (at least not intentionally) by revolutionaries, which is even more nonsensical.

The plot was nonexistent for roughly three quarters of the book — criminal, if you ask me. I'd rather have the most execrable prose that entertains me, over something as banal as this. I did not pick up this book, which promised revolution and magic and politics, to spend time meandering aimlessly from pointless event to pointless event. If the first meaningful thing happens in Chapter 26, and if the plot picks up only at the 70% marks, what are we even doing?

The prose itself lacked any rhythm and fluidity. It may not be a convention of the genre, but rigid writing really stifles the atmosphere of fantasy novels. Magic itself is depicted as something natural and with flow, and when the writing is as chunky as this, you lose some of that. Sure, is it particularly insulting? Not at all, but it wasn't particularly good either.

Onto the characters. Nehal was confusing and underutilised. Don't go out of your way to undermine your family name, and yet use it as a 'get out jail free' card at every opportunity. Actions have consequences! She ought to have been politicking, rather than being childishly impulsive. The book has her address this flaw far too late — which makes that reckoning utterly unsatisfactory. But at least Nehal is pretty active, whereas Giorgina simply floats around as the tides of the plot take her from place to place. Giorgina has some agency towards the end, but it's too little too late. Malak makes absolutely no sense as a revolutionary, and Nico is just . . . there? Both the romances in this novel were trite and uninspiring, and that frankly applies to every single character dynamic.

There is a certain naïveté to these characters that makes the entire novel read as YA, and more importantly make the characters seem like teenagers; they are grown adults! They lack any complexity and nuance in their choices — instead consistently make brash decisions without even sparing a moment to consider the consequences.

I see sparks of potential every couple of chapters, but overall, this was a letdown. It tries to address some very important political themes, but does it with such a heavy hand, and I can feel that weight as I drag myself to the final few chapters. I see why some people enjoy this novel, but I guess it's just not my kind of fantasy.