DNF at 62%. I really tried, but this just wasn't the book for me.
I'm going to just be honest as I jump into this and say that the ARC description made this sound more like a traditional fantasy, not like sci-fi (which isn't my genre). Had I realized, I probably wouldn't have requested this in the first place. Thanks anyway, though, Net Galley.
Since this isn't my genre, I'm not sure how accurate my assessment of the world is, but it felt like there was a TON of depth to the politics and even just to the details of the settings and background. It's clear that the author really put a lot of plot into what they built.
That said, the delivery of that was difficult for me. Again, it might be because this isn't my genre, but it was very very hard for me to follow all of the worldbuilding as it was presented. A lot of it was told instead of shown, and even though it's quite details, it felt very info-dumpy. There were points that I skipped/skimmed multiple pages because it was just TOO much, and I still understood what was happening, so it tells me a lot of that wasn't moving the story forward, at least not to the point that I made it. Which is unfortunate because the moments where I got to see the characters interact with their settings and the underlying political systems were great!
That said, I really love the banter and relationships in this book. I like Kainan's swagger and I love that Selene seems like a compassionate leader. I also liked that there was realistic space given for Selene's grief throughout the book; it all felt very authentic.
But because this book wasn't what I wanted it to be, and because I felt like I couldn't give a full review anyway because I skipped over so much, I just decided I'm going to put it in DNF and carry on.