What do you get when you put 12 magically blessed individuals, who barely tolerate one another, on a ship completely cut off from the outside world? OH, and there's someone murdering everyone aboard. Oh and every single person on the ship seems equally able and willing to commit murder for the same reason or another: grabbing power during the height of instability. For me, this book gripped my interest from page one and I know exactly why; the author's writing style in combination with an unputdownable plot was so inviting and addicting to read. It secured my attention for the rest of the book, I didn't want this story to ever end! 

Dee, the MC, was one of my favorite aspects from this novel. At first glance, Dee comes across as the reluctantly chosen Blessed from his province, forced to lie his way through the rest of his life. He appeared quite pathetic as well; reading from his POV sometimes felt like watching a car crash happening in slow motion, LOL. Some of his decisions were questionable, but he's such a charming and funny guy, you really can't help but to root for him anyway! However,  as easy going as Dee may try to present, he has a lot going on emotionally. He's traumatized by his abusive father, his relationship to his neighboring Blessed, and Concordia's disgusting history with the former Crabs and lower provinces in general. If all that wasn't enough, he grapples with sducidal thoughts and tendencies and feeling worthless/useless. Imagine that kind of person suddenly in charge of leading a who done it murder investigation! And while Dee certainly had his work cut out for him throughout the story, he achieves the answer (and much more). I loved this character so much; he was complex in the best way possible. He felt so human! Above all, I loved that no matter how much shit life threw at him, he never once became like the upper provinces (ahem: I'm looking at YOU, Ravi) and lost sight of his humanity. He was funny, kind,  and willing to step up to get justice. He extended his compassion and empathy freely, even for the most deranged individuals on that murder cruise. His relationship with Grasshopper was like a warm hug; it sincerely healed something within me. 

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for a while now. I didn't get to it until recently because everything I had heard about this book was so disappointing! I always knew I'd give it a chance anyway, it just kept slipping further and further down my physical TBR list until I finally decided to read it. I'm really glad that I did! This book kept me guessing until the very end. And even though I called who the murderer was early on, I never could've predicted anything else that came after that. This book featured a surprising amount of political intrigue as well; soooo many moving parts and fragile alliances and cutthroat ambition to claim it all- it was deliciously entertaining. It was just a really fantastic book overall. I had so much fun with it and it packed an emotional punch here and there as well. I would definitely recommend this!