This book had lots of interesting worldbuilding, devastating characters and relationships, and a compelling plot. On of the things that I see across Jemisin's books is that we tend to stay put in a location throughout the story, which isn't my favorite thing, but there was enough action with the protagonist, Essun, and Nassun, another POV character, was moving quite a bit. Speaking of Nassun's pov, I'm not sure I've read any children's perspective hurt so much. Her relationships with both (all three?) of her parents are so devastating. She's one of the only characters we get to know well where liking them is relatively easy.

I understand why this is a five star read for many people; I don't many specific critiques for it so much as it didn't hit the magic combination to be a favorite. I think the biggest parts of that were that I need a little more optimism, and I was a little too confused by the changes in POV, not just between characters but between 1st/2nd/3rd.

I would recommend this book to people who like unique worldbuilding, complex relationships between parents and kids, and the question of what humanizes and dehumanizes people in our minds.