It's very interesting, but also very slow. Also, the protagonist is essentially a bird in a cage, and what's more, she's kind of OK with that. As someone who loves freedom, this makes it hard to read. Combined with the aforementioned slowness, it's even a *chore* to read at times, but the world is super detailed and well done. It's extremely interesting but revealed agonizingly slowly. Also, while not bad, none of the prominent characters are all that endearing. Protagonist included. There are a LOT of characters, and the story does a pretty decent job of conveying their individual personalities, but they are all kinda meh. Sidenote: I would very much like to read a similar story where the second most prominent character is absent (the inflexible extremely protective guardian), as he plays a major role in sucking the sense of adventure out of the story. The protagonist no longer discovers things on her own once he shows up.