Honestly, I don’t understand all the rave reviews. I wanted to love this novella, truly. The only reason it has 1.5 stars at all is because it’s a BIPOC narrative in speculative fiction, which the world desperately needs more of, and because the idea was mildly original.

This book has got to be the best example of lazy writing I may have ever seen. There are so many plot holes and “deus ex machina” moments that I wanted to scream. It feels like the plot was just slapped together like a 2nd grade papier-mâché project— when the author had to make something more interesting, “oh, also there’s magic! that can be transferred! I know I originally said it was region-specific and granted to a certain religious group, but jk, it’s everywhere and really anyone can do it in these perfect convenient circumstances!”

Just one of the many plot holes in this story that made my skin crawl. Hate to rate it so low, but was left with no choice.