When I picked up this book I was ambivalent but once I got started I couldn’t put it down. Now I am left frustrated with the fact that this is only book one in a trilogy and now I have to wait. This book is told primarily from the perspectives of three women and their stories although a couple of voices are definitely heard. All three are unique and compelling characters that had me rooting for them. This is a story of corrupt government and secret police that keep the inhabitants ignorant. A warrior arrested, an aristocrat, and a crippled gutter rat each are fighting for similar goals but in drastically different settings and ways. Evie who is arrested after she assaults someone in a bar and conscripted or sentenced to become a savage, a mismatched army of miscreants meant to provide distraction and cannon fodder. Dyeawan has the most remarkable mind but is seen as nothing since a cart ran her over leaving her legs unresponsive. She’s a beggar in a world where that’s illegal so she ends up imprisoned for it. Lexi’s husband has gone missing and with only her guard Taru to assist she is desperate to figure out what happened. I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s full of magic, intrigue, action, and corruption.