This is a solid book—likable characters, good worldbuilding, and some nice intrigue. It's not really anything special, but I enjoyed it. I also liked the little nods to the other books in this series, which I haven't actually read yet, but the references have definitely upped my interest in them.
The POV shifted back and forth between Lan and Bao, and that method often arrests my reading momentum—in cases of strict every-other-chapter switches, changing POVs right when one starts to get interesting really slows me down. This book didn't do that—if a chapter ended at an intense moment, the POV wouldn't change. It made the book feel well-plotted, and sustained my momentum all the way through.
The POV shifted back and forth between Lan and Bao, and that method often arrests my reading momentum—in cases of strict every-other-chapter switches, changing POVs right when one starts to get interesting really slows me down. This book didn't do that—if a chapter ended at an intense moment, the POV wouldn't change. It made the book feel well-plotted, and sustained my momentum all the way through.