A demon begins a love affair with a city she helps thrive, only to have it taken away by a group of angels who raze it. When asked if she’ll kneel, she instead bestows a curse on one of the angels — causing them to become inexorably linked. As she mourns her city, her people, and her libraries over the next several hundred years, the angel seeks ways to soothe the hurt he caused, and the demon must decide whether or not to accept his efforts, and what to do with the city she loves that no longer exists.

Vitrine, our demon, is I think one of my all-time favorite protagonists. She is petty and vicious and loyal, she’s mercurial and sentimental. The world is vibrant and layered, and the stories of the city and the various humans who lived there kept my attention the whole way through. Beyond that, Nghi Vo deftly navigates both grief and guilt in a way very few authors can manage.