Awesome grimdark
A quick, beautifully written, amazing little adventure with a bit of a focus on romance, stealth and some suspense. It was my first encounter with The Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, and it's a standalone tale set in the same universe as the other three books. From my perspective, it seems like a fantastic introduction to the books. An overall premise of ultimately doomed love was made pretty interesting to me, giving romance-y scenes that felt involving and tense, rather than empty. There was also an odd twist at the end that wasn't easily predicted. The fun, very likeable characters, well-paced story, and vivid description of both the mythos and philosophy of the world and characters kept me interested beyond belief. The only criticism that came to mind throughout the book is that at times the dialogue and inner monologues of Pyrre seemed to be a bit excessive. This didn't at all ruin the experience for me, though, as I never found it to be excessive to the point of making it difficult to want to keep reading. I definitely plan on reading the main story after running into this one, and maybe even rereading Skullsworn at some point.
