The book makes it obvious from the outset that the protagonist Kyr’s heroic view of her freedom-fighter society is going to be undermined, but it still ends up taking a pretty surprising path. It’s a good story with some interesting themes:
- Although the aliens are portrayed sympathetically, the book resists giving a tidy or conclusive justification of their decision to destroy Earth. So Kyr’s journey isn’t a simple change of view about who the historical ‘good guys’ were. Rather, she’s grappling with questions about what the reality of past injustice means for her own life.
- Even as the characters try to reject their extremist upbringings, they realize there will always be ways it’s shaping them that they haven’t yet noticed.