I wanted to like this book more. A brash young woman challenging racism and sexism while trying to simultaneously conceal and learn to use secret goddess-given powers? Advanced technology along with gods and goddesses answering prayers or creating monsters? Sounds great in theory. The problems arise with the execution.

First, the protagonist, Ikenna, is exceptionally dense. OK, she's grieving the unexpected death of her grandfather, but that's no excuse to simply take the word of the very first person who suggests that his death wasn't accidental as to who the responsible parties might be and fixate on murdering those people for the first 2/3 of the book. She repeatedly misses obvious clues that she's being played. I am not one of those people who solves mysteries ahead of the conclusion of a mystery book, but even I could see it coming. She trusts and distrusts completely and suddenly, based on little to no evidence, and with predictably bad results. It was frustrating.

Second, there's a jarring contrast between the book's YA tone and its horribly brutal events - Mareen, the republic that Ikenna reveres even though she wants to reform it--wantonly slaughters its would-be soldiers in training in the name of making those left at the end more fit to fight.

Third, the heavy-handed nature of the social critique of racism and sexism. An odd choice was the author's seemingly deliberate avoidance of the words "race" and "racism" to describe how the light-skinned Mareenians view the dark-skinned Khanaians with contempt and hatred--only to throw the word "racism" right in there close to the end.

With all that said, the inventive setting and the fast-paced action are lots of fun. And when the plot stops dragging and we finally get the big twists at the end, Ikenna did manage to surprise me with her avoidance of the traps laid out by her many enemies. Read it, but keep your expectations low and you'll have a good time.