There are a 4 things I'm certain about this author:

1. She was a pegasister at one point and loved Fluttershy (Shinjiro is literally Fluttershy but transitioned and put a lot of sake in his tea)

2. She played/watched Danganronpa with how the layout of the ship, types of deaths, and doorplates worked.

3. She had some oddly specific food cravings while writing this book.

And 4.

She truly cares about people, the marginalized and POC especially.

It's not a perfect book by any means necessary, the prose feels too modern and it came straight out of Booktok which is jarring as it can take you out of the setting a bit.
But this is still a damn good book.

It's rare to see a white author be respectful about the cultures she's representing in a book but also just treating them like people instead of an ethnic stereotype which a lot of white authors lean into sadly.

White didn't with this book. She understood her audience, the Knives Out mixed with murder and fantasy and LGBT and HORRIBLY needing POC that matter, and you get a near perfect Booktok book that truly deserves its name.
It's fun, she has a really good handle how to pace a book. The beginning was a little slow but once a murder happened, it got the ball rolling HARD.

I feel like this only book that deserves to be hyped up to high heaven and not be ashamed of promoting an author. Toss out your Zionist trash and get this book. It truly deserves it.

This is a NEW ADULT, not an adult fantasy book

4.5/5