The Armored Saint

Edit added 6/26/2020: Recently it's come to light that Myke Cole is a serial abuser and sexual harasser, and was so at the time I wrote this review. I did not know that at the time I wrote this since I don't move in the same spaces as his victims, but I'm leaving this note here now to say that, despite my high praise of this novel, I absolutely do not condone his behavior at any point in time, whether I was aware of it or not. Any of his books that I now have will not be reviewed on this blog. Review of any of his future work will depend upon whether he has demonstrated any actual, genuine change in his behavior going forward.

And then there is Heloise. On one hand, I find her mildly irritating, but on the other hand I also understand that my irritation comes from the fact that Heloise is still sixteen ??? a teenager. She reacts to things the way any young woman of that age would: on impulse, and according to her feelings, not her head. This leads her to do and say things that, in more ways than one, help to precipitate the events in the story???s climax. Those events break her, true, but they do not break her totally. That is something I find very interesting indeed ??? not least because this is clearly a grimdark story, and usually grimdark stories don???t leave much room for hope. And yet there it is, a small spark in Heloise???s spirit that continues to burn despite the growing dark. I am very much looking forward to seeing what becomes of her, and her altered circumstances change the world around her.