This book is slow. Not normal slow, but slow like a snail carrying a backpack full of lead slow. Slow like watching an oil painting dry as a spectator sport slow. Slow like watching yourself age slow. I had to trudge through this book. I had managed to get a little more than halfway done and then I went into a reading slump and I didn't read it for a year. For real. It's like 800 pages of slow. 
 This is why I can't find it in my heart to give this a five star rating. 
 However. 
 It's a truly fantastic book. It's all about a slow build up and set up for what's going on in this world after the revolution occurred. And there IS payoff and it is GREAT. If the pay off hadn't been good enough, I probably would've ripped my hair out for wasting so much time and effort trying to finish a book that was so slow to get to the point. But it all makes sense and it is satisfying, thank goodness. The very end is also subversive and awesome and has me wanting to read the third book, but maybe not right away. Not sure if I can handle it right now. Amazing story telling and world building and suspense building. The thing is, as slow as this book was, I wonder a bit what I would've chopped off. It's hard to say. Is it a fair criticism if there is such good payoff? I'm not sure. 
 But at least I'm honest about it.