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bertiesea 's review for:

Pantomime by Laura Lam
3.5
adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

This book was weird, because there wasn’t a whole lot of Main Plot - but somehow, I didn’t mind too much?
It very much felt like it was the set up book for the rest of the series, like it was just the call to adventure of the wider story. But like I said, it didn’t feel draggy or like I was just waiting to get to the main plot. The characters were likeable and well written, and their relationships compelling.
I can’t speak for intersex people, but as a trans person who doesn’t want to fully medically transition, I related a lot to the MC and thought their emotions and struggle around their identity were well written. 
My one complaint is about
Aenea’s removal from the story at the end - in any other book where this would be the climax and a character was lost, i think it would be fine. But because, like I said, this book was mostly build up to the main plot beginning, it felt more like she was written out before anything started.