Hardback
391 pages
YA Sci-Fi
LGTQIA+ characters
Loaned to me by a student
This is a student’s favorite book, and they have been passionate about having me read it. I told them if they lent it to me before a break I would. They made sure to get it to me just before we left for Winter Break.
This is what I was handed. No synopsis, no dust jacket, very little idea of what to expect. It was an interesting adventure.
So, synopsis (relatively spoiler free):
Setting: a fantasy version of China. There is a war. Males pilot these big sort of magical mecha suits, but they have to have a female co-pilot, who is often killed by the experience. Poor families often sell their daughters to the army to be these co-pilots. It is a sexist, patriarchal society.
Protagonist is from a poor, frontier town. Her elder sister was recently sold to the army and killed by a pilot. Protagonist plucks her unibrow, dresses nice, and also sells herself to the army with the intention of getting revenge on the pilot who killed her sister.
But that plot actually wraps up really early, and the book evolves.
At the start of the book, they kept talking about needles, so ick.
The first chapter, when I had no idea what to expect, was difficult for me to get into, but it really was a great story. I mostly read it yesterday.
I thought there was going to be a cliché love triangle thing happening, but they subverted my expectations.
The annoying thing is that the next book doesn't come out until August 2023.
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