A review by aardwyrm
In the Vanishers' Palace by Aliette de Bodard

adventurous emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The world is so interesting, but the story focuses entirely on everyone learning very straightforward communication skills to the point where it feels like an episode of a kid's show with a slightly muddled but very didactic moral. Also, the romance is very central, but the beauty and beast analogues are immediately horny for each other before they know anything about each other, so there's no tension in that throughline. I'd much rather know more about how the invasion of magical alien monsters twisted the world and the fabric of society.