I really really loved this book. I think it was the perfect critique of colonialism and racism from such interesting perspectives. I was so compelled by the plot and the characters, and thought the complex relationship between Luca and Touraine was executed wonderfully. I loved all the representation in here: the completely casual sapphic rep, the wonderful disability rep, and the un-discussed non binary character. I thought both perspectives was so interesting, with Touraine having been taken away from her home country as a child and having to find a way to fit back into the society, and Luca, the princess of an empire who struggles to do right by the colonies but can’t for the sheer fact of it being an empire. I loved watching Touraine develop a complex and tense relationship with her mother and the rebels as well. 

There are two things I wished had been developed a little more (Touraine’s relationship with the Sands and the magic and religious systems) but otherwise I loved this.