thank you to the publisher for a review copy.

this story was a bit of a fever dream. maybe i'm missing information because it's a novella that should have been a novel. or maybe there's necessary information to be found in the rest of the series even though this book should be able to be read as a standalone. nevertheless, i'm not really sure what i just read.

the general premise was interesting: a female academic main character (which i always love) and new-to-me magical system with gems. also themes of colonization and it's appropriation of culture and history.

but it was all rather abrupt, nonlinear. i don't know where we ended up or even really how we got there. though, it was a fun journey and i'd be willing to try another book in this series to see if the pieces come together a bit more.