This book is a bit difficult to describe. I think the author’s note said something about it being an “inverted gothic romance,” which, like, fair, I guess. Ema, the captive, experiences the inverse of gothic romance, experiences the worst that colonial Europe has to offer, and grows into her own while a “captive” of a vibrant indigenous society, obsessed with printing money and breeding peacocks. It is, at times, horrible and horrifying, which always makes for a rough read, but also empowering and wild? I felt like I was just barely holding on the entire time