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�� �� 3.75 �� ��
�� arc review ��

��.˚“If he chooses you, he will lose everything.��

This is a silkpunk mystery where Ying disguises as her brother and allies with a prince to find out who’s behind her father’s murder, all while going through guild trials to become an engineer. While it’s classified as a fantasy there is close to no magical elements (aka no real dragons) and is more sci-fi in my opinion. However, the story and setting is still quite unique and fantastical. The murder mystery was interesting and I did have a little inkling about who was involved but it still came as a surprise and utter betrayal.

��.˚“It’s only a matter of time, Ying.�� I’m still stuck here by the way.

The romance was the main thing keeping me interested. Like Yeyang the man that you are 😮‍��. When he wasn’t there I was low key bored. He’s such a simp. But also men ☕️. While Ying didn’t always agree with his views, he is truly just “trapped as a victim of his circumstances.�� If you love pretty princes that internally struggle with what they think is right vs what they need to do, you’ll love him. As much as I’m rooting for them to be endgame, I totally understand why Ying took a step back and was like that’s not really the life I want to live. I even did cry a bit during the “third act breakup�� that happened, like sick to my stomach.

Love all the friendships Ying has, especially with Yekan who was an annoying little twerp in the beginning but became one of her closest friends. I really hope he’ll be able to become an engineer now that he doesn’t have anyone holding him back.

��.˚“I was your sword, but you were never mine.�� Why must you leave me with this heartbreak Amber Chen

While I was a little disappointed with the ending that made my heart ache (because it didn’t really go how I expected), it’s clearly set up for the sequel. Which I’m not sure if I’ll be reading or not. I’ll probably forget about the entire plot by the time it comes out to be fair.

��.˚“If I want to conquer the world, will you stand by my side?�� um immediately yes

For some reason I kept finding similarities with the hunger games??? Specifically the friendships in the guild reminded me of Snow and his peacekeeper friends in the book, actually the entire thing kind of gave the vibes of that whole section of TBOSAS. Another correlation I found was with the whole political and war aspect. The Capitol to the Districts is like how The Empire is to the Nine Isles. And Katniss to Coin is like Ying to the High Commander. The political issues weren’t the main concern of the book but I think the next book will expand on it more.

��.˚He was the one who opened this door for her�� and then held her hand through it all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this 🏯