In the Carribbean-esque island chain of Hans Lollik Helle, Sigourney Rose is the sole black member of the upper class, where all other black people suffer ongoing oppression and enslavement by their white masters, the Fjern. Sigourney's ancestors had earned their own freedom through partnering their agricultural expertise with the Fjern, and her mother, a former slave of the Rose family, became the wife of a Fjern man who was enamoured with her beauty. The other Fjern elites never accepted Mrs. Rose and her children, though, especially after her husband died and she assumed control of the family's estates and wealth herself. The elites thus had Sigourney's entire family slaughtered during a garden party, of which a young Sigourney was the sole survivor, having been rescued by an enslaved women who spirited her away to safety and then was killed herself.

Now, years later, having grown up in the grudging care of a Fjern cousin and developed the magical ability to read and influence people's minds, Sigourney means to get her revenge against the elites who killed her family. By scheming her way onto the royal island of Hans Lollik Helle where all the elites are gathered with the king for the duration of the storm season, Sigourney means be convince the king to choose her as his regent, thus making her the Queen of all the islands, slaves, and Fjern elites alike, the latter of whom she the plans to see put to death. But first she has to survive the storm season as various other elites start dying at the hands of an unknown competitor.

This was one of the most frustrating books I've read in a long time. The premise was so cool and true to life, and seemed to promise gripping political manoeuvring as Sigourney worked over the king to choose her despite the colour of her skin, and outsmarted all the Fjern elites also vying for the position. Alas it was not the case on account of the manner in which the story was written, for it read less like a story and more so an essay about a story, as well as the story before the story.

So very little of the “action”, as it were, was shown happening in real time, instead being told by the narrator in large blocks of exposition that contained next to no dialogue. The book being written in first person present tense made this style even more awkward and unappealing since present tense in fact means that events are happening in real time and should naturally be narrated that way. The story also contained huge amounts of backstory that, rather than artfully sprinkled amidst the action, were dumped in awkwardly at the height of scenes. Much of this backstory was employed in lieu of genuine character development where we're permitted to watch a character in action and infer their personality through their behaviour.

This unfortunate habit was fuelled by Sigourney's ability to read minds. I really disliked this magical aspect of the story, for rather than create action with it, the author used it solely as a means to avoid character development. With her gift (called “kraft” in the story, of which there are many different types that the Fjern possess, while all other black islanders that possess it are put to death), Sigourney is able to instantly know everything about everyone within moments of meeting them—their history, their deepest secrets that no one else knows—thus eliminating story tension and promoting this style of telling vs. showing.

Yet she was somehow unable to use her kraft to know which of the elites was the murderer. On the whole, Sigourney's plan didn't make much sense. The elites already despised her and where trying to kill her; why would she expect they'd suddenly start respecting her if she was named regent? Neither did any of the Fjern make much use of their own kraft to advance their pursuit of the regency.

Sigourney as a character is fairly unlikeable, living comfortably in her position of privilege, doing nothing to aid her fellow black islanders who are enslaved (and knowing that she's not doing anything), yet resenting their lack of love for her. Her unlikableness is sort of the point—a character study of how she too is influenced by the racism of the Fjern and her own internalized racism.

However not enough is done with this. Sigourney's inner narrative— not to mention the narrative of the story as a whole—is so incredibly repetitive, a seemingly endless rehash of the same half dozen ideas and images. Yes, Sigourney's whole family was murdered; yes, all the Fjern think she has no business being in a position of power as a black woman; yes, all her slaves despise her and could choose to kill her at any time; yes, her mother tried to help her slaves while Sigourney herself does nothing; yes something weird is up with the king; yes, she spent time up north in the free states getting an education"; yes, the hem of her white dress is floating in the water; yes, her sisters names were Ellinor and Inga; yes the island is called Hans Lollik Helle. Really—I got it all the first time.

It was especially maddening with the character and place names. Almost every instance saw them written as if introducing them to the reader for the first time: “the royal island of Hans Lollik Helle”, “my sister Ellinor”, “my brother Claus”. It made the already exposition-dense text even more awkward. So much exposition/so little dramatization also had the effect of making the world feel really empty. It seemed Sigourney, her accompanying slaves and the 7 or 8 Fjern elites were the only people in the entire group of islands.

The climax of the story was incredible; I’ll give it that. A thrilling plot twist that unfortunately lost most of its impact through being narrated in six straight pages of solid exposition as Sigourney reads it from another character's mind. I would have loved to see the revelation and its implications play out in real time.

I would have loved to see the entire story play out in real time. I kind of want this book to get picked up as a movie in order to see the story told in a more visual way because overall the promise of its premise was ruined by unengaging, expository writing. Two and a half stars rounded to three.