If people disliked Orfeus for mere unchangeable traits about her, her general policy was to irritate them as frequently and cheerfully as possible, so that at least she got some entertainment out of it.

Somehow, this book very much reminded me of works by RoAnna Sylver and Claudie Arseneault (who both happen to be among my favorite authors). Part of it is the predominantly queer cast and the wonderfully queernorm world. Part of it is this shiny hopepunk vibe that doesn't involve shying away from the darkness that may lurk even in the best, most wholesome communities.

I greatly enjoyed the worldbuilding with all the solarpunk splendor, the emphasis on a better way to interact with the natural world and each other, and technologies that get so indistinguishable from magic that some of them *are* literally called magic. The main character, Orpheus, was a joy to spend time with. She's the quintessential bard, with her songwriting, her trusty guitar, and her endless flirtations. She's also such an interesting combination of cautious and reckless. The plot starts with her getting targeted by a member of an order of assassins, or rather, those who deal out retribution which may or may not involve someone's untimely death. Naturally, she wants to know who put a contract on her, so of course, she soon decides to join the order herself for a thorough investigation.

The Order of the Vengeful Wild is a super interesting structure that, at first glance, doesn't fit all that neatly into the sparkling, wholesome solarpunk world. But the more I read about these people and their goals, the more I realized how much of an indispensable part of the setting they are (even though they *could* and *should* be better). I don't want to give too many things away, but honestly, the worldbuilding here is an absolute joy on all levels, and the way the society is shown is no expection.

The one thing I found a little bit lacking was the plot, or rather, the way it was presented. Several important part were so rushed that I got confused. It was like it was so clear to the author how A stems from B from C, that they neglected to explain it to the reader. I felt that also prevented me from getting to know many of the secondary character as well as I would have liked to. They're all super colorful and have interesting backstories and personalities, but some of them get too little "screen time," I think. Or rather, they don't have the spotlight on them often enough to showcase their deals.