So I got approved to read this today and when I go to download, I can't. Why? Well it's already archived. A bit ridiculous to archive a book after approving people because we can't download the book after that has been done. So, uh, thanks? I guess for giving me hope and then tearing that down in .23 seconds. It was nice while it lasted.

This is a hard one for me to rate. Because I loved the queer found family aspect, the openness about sexuality, sex, gender, and love (which is not a finite resource) - and having these characters being unabashedly themselves in the wake of a very misogynistic and patriarchal society was awesome and heartening.

Also Rovan being selfish and angry and making mistakes is absolutely the move. It frustrated me as a reader who was rooting for her, but it also made me really want to see her grow. And we did get that.

However, at about 70% the book got really weird. The change in direction kind of turned me off from the rest of the book. I think part of it was that the passage of time was nebulous (I'm always really dubious about timeline when characters start throwing the word "love" around and being super self-sacrificial) and part of it was the lack of movement/action in the first half then turned on its head with a very action-packed last 1/3.

So overall enjoyable but not a favorite. I enjoyed it for the queer rep and open discussions of identity and found family vibes. But trust seemed too freely given when everyone is out for blood. Sometimes literally.

As for the audiobook narration: some of the pronunciations of names and terms was inconsistent through the book, which was a little bit weird, but I love the way different characters were differentiated and I would listen to another book performed by this narrator.