Group of assassins killing a monarch seems pretty standard. Oh that monarch is hardwired into a 50 foot killer robot? And you have to do it while navigating a tense political situation between two houses who are a step away from open war and all of who are also in giant robots . Well I'm sold . I've always said there's no piece of media that couldn't be improved by the inclusion of a giant mech . Peter Pan ,Of mice and men slap a robot in and I'm sold. So it's fair to say I enjoyed this book so if your only question is do the robots fight and is it awesome then i can say yes they do and yes it is .

But what I didn't expect is how much I would care about the characters in this book. I mean obviously you have the classic assassin archetypes the sniper whose bad at talking to people cause he spends all his time in sewer drains. The assassin who spends so long as other people shes no longer sure who she is . The tech one who takes personal boundaries as a personal challenge. But what I didn't expect is how well three dimensional they would feel by the end. It's hard not to root for them by the end as they learn to trust each other and work together nothing about it is groundbreaking but it's done so earnestly that I was sold.

The plot itself is paced okay I feel like the section getting to the planet could be shortened. Then we could have been given more time getting to know the two houses they just feel like the typical we hate each other cause one of us wears white in the summer and the other doesn't trope . They don't even feel that distinct from each other which is maybe the point but that part fell flat for me . But I was never bored its well paced and when shit hits the fan I was on the edge of my seat the whole time . this is a solid recommendation for me .

Tldr; Solid plot good characters robots go brrrrr purchase now