TW: war and related forms of violence, rape

It took me quite come time to get into this story - I'm not one for military scifi and was, in all honesty, just here for the gays. In all honesty, I wouldn't even be able to summarize what happened in this book in detail, as some scenes just went completely over my head (something you will have to learn to accept when reading this book). What truly sold me and kept me from putting down the book were the characters and the dynamic between Kel Cheris and Shuos Jedao and the mystery that slowly builds up in the shadow of the war being fought.

I'm a big sucker for plots of two characters being semi-forced to cohabit in the same physical shell as political intrigue plays out; I often found myself thinking of Arkady Martine's fantastic Teixcalaan books, which were probably in part inspired by this book/series. In that regard I think both "protagonists" were very well chosen, as Jedao was mysterious, unreliable, but all in all likeable.

I hope I get around to reading the other books in the series, as the final scenes and revelations had me on the edge of my seat and excited to continue.