First things first: the back cover summary is full of lies. Loxley does not suffer from crippling anxiety by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, she's barely even anxious at all (though she is sometimes justifiably afraid).

What she actually is: autistic. Also she presumably has Down syndrome, though the only real indication of that is in the particular flavour of slurs hurled at her. That this is marketed as anxiety is honestly shameful. Not a flaw in the book, certainly, but a definite flaw in the publisher.

Loxley pretty much carries the book, in my opinion. The setting is a gritty capitalist dystopia, the plot is a fairly standard murder-revenge sort of thing, there's some cool stuff going on with ghosts and one entity that's more than a ghost; but in the end, the real appeal of the book is seeing Loxley navigate it.

Loxley is clearly, visibly disabled. Other characters react to her with bigotry, pity, and occasionally fear, and she has serious difficulties with communication and sensory overload. Her disability is in no way minimised. And yet... she has a ton of agency, she's assertive, determined, bold, successful. She's allowed to be aggressive, even violent, in a way that's usually reserved for abled white male action heroes in similar narratives. She's allowed to be sexual, which doesn't do much for me personally but I nonetheless recognise as deeply important. And it's beautifully done: the narration fits perfectly into her perspective, making no concessions for allistic readers. For Loxley alone, Every Mountain Made Low was a delight to read.

(Honestly, it reads a bit like a wish fulfillment fantasy - which, because it's handled with nuance and care, is absolutely something we need more of. First time I've read something that reads like an obvious wish fulfillment fantasy and actually applies, this well anyway.)

Selling points: awesome autistic representation in the protagonist, presumably coupled with Down syndrome; lesbian protagonist; bisexual representation; excellent voice; some cool stuff with ghosts and perspectives and suchlike; Loxley is super awesome.

Warning points: heavy use of ableist slurs; sexual assault / attempted rape; sex scenes (consensual); really not great on the race front (Loxley begins the book with racism inherited from her mother, and ends the book significantly less racist, but her racism feels a bit gratuitous and is never really addressed - certainly not to the extent that it should be - while sympathetic black characters take on supporting roles and make sacrifices to help her out).