This joins the ranks of "wow, that was an amazing book that I'll recommend heavily, but it was so not for me!" The big strength that really kept me going through this book was the characters. I was fascinated by Baru and her thought process and genuinely wanted to see more. The plot is good, but it's very politically focused and very military strategy focused, and while I think both were executed incredibly, they just aren't things I tend to enjoy in my books. And I also just like a little bit more hope in the things I read, no matter how dark they get.
Overall, this is great if this is what you look for in fantasy. I won't be continuing the series, but I will give Exordia a chance. This would be like a 2.5/5 if I was rating based purely on my enjoyment, but I genuinely respect and think this is a great book, so it's closer to a 4 for the objective quality.