I feel like this should've been longer to flesh out both the romance between the leads (in my opinion, it evolved too quickly given the circumstances, but I know not everyone likes slow burn, so there are readers who will like it better this way) and for the exploration of piracy. But I loved the combination of romance and pirate politics, and the story was engaging. Also, I just generally love the worldbuilding in Xuya universe, how reality is hidden under the layer of virtual, how everything exists in-between and the constant shifting. Feels very appropriate for this type of story too, with changes in the system--who gets to adapt and survive, who gets left behind.

The audiobook is also great, Aoife Hinds did a good job and it was so easy to loose yourself in listening.