I had a tough time engaging with this book. It took me a third of the book to realize that the point of this book isn't some grand narrative plot, but rather just a series of vignettes of Exodan life. Then about halfway through some actual plot happens, a bit of conflict and events to tie the narrative threads together. I liked it much better then. She's a great writer of characters and human moments but I sure wish they were tied together more closely into a story. Looking back on my reviews of the first two books I had the same complaint, so I suppose that's just how these books are going to work.