This was fun but not quite what I expected. I think the author has a lot of potential.

Some things that would have improved this book:
-a map
-consistent spelling of Tangata/Taangata/Tāngata
-not saying "it was the worst pain she ever felt" every time Yat experiences some kind of magical injury

Otherwise, there was a lot of inventive world-building that sometimes held together only with vibes but was nonetheless engaging. I liked the inspiration from Maori culture and hope that SFF only sees more influence and authors from various world cultures.

I loved the world and setting in this book! the idea of alchemy and botanics mixing and just having plants instead of mechanical machines was so new and interesting and with the "magic" system in this book makes for so many cool opportunities. and especially in later chapters this also leads to some really cool and creepy body horror.
in general this book has a lot of really cool and new/rare story elements; the mythology and the way the gods and minor deities interact with the world is something i've never read before, and there were some nice twists on genre tropes like "coming back from death" and the heroine coming into their power and changing/growing though that.
i really liked the heroine. we get thrown into the story and this world without knowing anything and there's this great feeling of "what the eff is going on here?!", but since the heroine, too, feels that way and is learning and discovering new things, as a reader i never felt left behind and it was just a mystery to solve together. 
i also really enjoyed the short inbetween chapters, where someone obviously more knowledgeable is talking. it adds to the sense of mystery and a bigger story line / backstory to it all. and some of them are just so poetic and rip your heart out.
also the representation and social commentary in this book is amazing. there is a super queer pirate found family and also a cat, that helps safe the day/heroine. and really what more could you want from a book?

Thanks to Saga Press for the free copy of this book.

 - I’m not sure I actually know what to make of THE DAWNHOUNDS. It was wildly creative and inventive, filled with compelling characters, action packed, and often confusing as heck.
- I think the author leaned a little too hard into the “drop readers in without explaining the world and they’ll figure it out” school of sci-fi. Eventually I think I got a handle on it, but a lot of it still felt under-explained, especially the mythology of the gods.
- However, I really loved the writing and found it so compelling. I do think I’ll pick up the next in the series when it arrives, because although this book had some issues, I think Stronach is an author to watch.