This was such a good read. Smith really manages to capture the anger felt by the general public during the pandemic. The dialogue is funny and the side characters are lowkey infuriating (but in a good way). Definitely one of my favourites in this series. 

I loved this book, though I found it harder to parse out the connections and meanings behind this one than in Smith’s other books. I found myself more invested in the young blacksmith’s story than in Sandy’s and was disappointed that it made up only a third of the book. This one did leave me with a lot of questions (which I think is the point, the narrator literally says “A story is never an answer. A story is always a question.”) and I think it will stick with me for a while.