A review by kadomi
Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

I loved Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse and was hoping to get something else to love. I did however not love this novella. The setting is a sort of steampunk wild west in which the ruling class are Divine Virtues, and they are exploiting the Fallen. The Fallen in turn are their miners as they can find Divinity, a source of power, in mines. So far interesting enough. However, that's about all the world building you get. This could have been amazing fully fleshed out, but with the little exposition you get, it mostly left me frustrated and confused. On top of that the main character Celeste was irredeemable for me. Celeste can pass as a non-Fallen and works at a saloon, together with her sister Mariel. But Mariel is found with the body of a dead Virtue. Celeste gets permission to be the diabolus advocatus for her sister because she believes she's not guilty.

In the course of her investigation, Celeste does a lot of frustrating things, and I just could not get behind it, even knowing that this is Roanhorse's attempt a playing with the 'tragic mulatto' trope. Interesting concept, but fell flat for me.