My book club’s choice ;)

Only a few pages in, I thought: “Right, this is going to be a NICE book, YA sci-fi novel that knows exactly what it’s doing. Yay!”

The book drops you in the middle of the action right away, so the worldbuilding feels quick and effortless. For a reader, it’s like putting on a pair of well-worn slippers. I still have quite a few questions, but I hope they will be answered in the next book – because I’ll definitely read it.

Tembi, the main character, is cool, inquisitive, eager, badass, has anger management issues and keeps her head (mostly) cool in a crisis. I adored her. Coming of age stories and plots where someone with special abilities goes to a very special school have been told countless times before. Telling such a story yet again, without making the reader yawn and cringe, is impressive.

I really enjoyed the idea of Deep, the alien intelligence, and its efforts to communicate and build relationships with Tembi and other Witches.

The second half of the book gets darker and darker – there is war and genocide, complicity through inaction, difficult choices.

And wait, supply chains? A sci-fi book that takes supply chains seriously? Give me more, please.
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