Listen it is hard to get me to rate much below a 5, but I was so disappointed in this book from the beginning. I am not going to dive into a ton of detail, but below are my bullet points.

I loved the setting, but I felt tge author could have utilized the incredible landscape of New Zealand in a time where not kuch of it was yet colonized to become what we know of today

The characters were not particularly well written.there was little to no growth. They all behaved in extremely rigid ways. I could relate to some aspects, but not many.

I don't feel like the author took enough time really painting the hard picture of what life would be like in this Era. They hinted at some things like how they treated the Maori like savages and showed general disdain for the "Chinaman", but I feel that was a missed opportunity to immerse the reader.

The language and dialogue. I fully recognize the difference in language from our current English, but the writing style was so robotic and systematic that it was disappointing to read.

The story lacked...well story. It was an passive storyline. It's like the smudge on your glasses that is only noticeable when you focus on it. When it's time to address something and progress the story, a new chapter begins to focus on it and then goes back to the mundane very quickly. Then after several chapters it is time to do it again. And I think there were too many storyline the writer wanted to include so they start a new one and it either falters or becomes yet another passive arc in the progress of the tale.

Overall, I feel like the setting and premise had a rugged promise to transport us to an uncharted land full of mystery and intrigue, but the story painted it as just another run-of-the-mill place not much different than one set in industrialized Europe.