This book is a page turner, I'll give you that. I found the story to be irresistible. The descriptions and the world building were also incredible. The magical system was like none I've ever seen and I loved it so much I imagined myself as a gatherer. Gatherer Ehiru and his apprentice Nijiri were also a great combination. The relationship between them, at times teacher and student, at times skirting the edges of sexual, was... interesting. I found both their back stories to be well crafted. In particular, I loved how Jemisin linked Ehiru's past traumas, into his final devolution as a reaper (out of control gatherer). Another observation. Having read Jemisin's short story Narcomancer, I love that I was emotionally invested in both Ehiru and Cet, the protagonist gatherer in Narcomancer. Both gatherers share many similarities, but enough about that.Now the bad and it all pertains to the bad guys. I hate that I was able to guess the identity of the reaper in this book very early, so that when the big reveal came I wasn't surprised. I understand that because of how the world is constructed and the limited number of gatherers, mystery may be a challenge. But still, Jemisin treated it as a mystery and it really wasn't. Secondly, I didn't buy Prince Eninket's motivations to do the evil things he did. I certainly understood his primary motivation to rid himself of the dominance of the Hetawa. But his motivation for war seemed contrived to fit the epic fantasy direction of this novel.Nevertheless, this book is a solid 5 star for me and I'd definitely recommend.