I'm not sure what was more surprising to me: the depth of emotion that I felt while reading this, or the amount of philosophical exploration that was invited through the various characters and plots. I almost feel like this needed to be longer to really unpack and explore some of the many themes, but it's pace felt almost perfect so I think it struck a good balance. I was also a bit surprised when I realised about half-way through that despite the intense in media res sci-fi start, this was actually structured as a romance novel. I loved the characters, and will be looking for more in this setting.