Feels like a dramatisation of some expansion of the real Roman empire, almost textbookish at times. The good kind. Lots of fun - I can't believe I'm about to say this - fiscal policy. Got me thinking back to that macroeconomics course for the first time since I wrung a C out of it. My favourite aspect were the legion of dukes and duchesses. They took a while to build up into individuals but by the end, each is stubborn in unique way and ever plotting to screw over their peers. If anything, they were more interesting than Baru.

I applaud Dickinson's willingness to commit Baru to the consequences of her actions. This is not a story where she just looks inside herself at the eleventh hour and defeats her enemies by sheer willpower. As to the ending,

while I was crowing in horrified glee that she actually lived up to the book's title, I do feel that the mechanics of concealing the twist were a little disingenuous. We were privy to her deepest thoughts through her schooling and the first year of Aurdwynn, only for them to silently be withheld when she 'commits' to rebellion, AKA when it would have spoilt the twist? I spent a few chapters at that point confused as to why she'd given up on reaching Falcrest so soon. Ultimately I just went along with it, assuming I'd misjudged her or missed a passage, but in retrospect I'm lightly annoyed at the distance this put between me and Baru's narration when it turns out I actually understood her perfectly! Baru's line about having deceived herself is fine but feels more like an excuse from someone so painfully aware of her sins (especially with all her time spent pondering marriages that would never happen). I would have preferred for her to truly rebel but, after Sieroch, realise Aurdwynn was an audition and then choose to rebel everything she had unreservedly grown to love. Bring us along for the betrayal!

All that said, I am not unhappy with the ballsy outcome we got. The final letter in particular made me get hype for pissed-off-provincial-schemer-bowl.

I advise against the audiobook beyond a pronunciation guide; it took me until the final third to be confident I was matching character names to the right person (especially Xate Olake, Lyxaxu, and Unuxekome).