There's an abundance of media across all formats that shouts the message of "war is bad!" to all audiences, to the point that it's just accepted as a given and ironically starts to lose its edge. Then you come across something like this book that grabs you by the shoulders and makes you look at warfare at its worst, and the point is driven home with a renewed intensity you can't look away from. Sometimes you need that sharper reminder.

This book was all over the place in terms of juking away from my expectations with respect to plot, character developments, and even worldbuilding. Not enough to make me feel uneasy or like I didn't have a grasp of what was going on, but more like a well-planned out sequence of surprises that kept pulling me forward. Which is to say, the author kept zigging when I was expecting them to zag.

If that's too vague for you, consider this: it's basically an R-rated Avatar: The Last Airbender, but also an undercurrent of female empowerment fighting against a conservative society and one of the best redemption arcs of an asshole character I've read probably ever.

I could've done without the last two or three chapters, which felt like a very clear Act 4 intended to set up a sequel that will never come. And there's also a bunch of other things I could nitpick but I don't care because my enjoyment thoroughly outweighed my criticisms.