I loved the characters and their connections. I loved this world built with life itself, yet lacking fundamental connections to life and other. That was intriguing and well developed. The bin chicken insult- delightful. The characters and their relationships are well established. The world building is well done. 
Spoiler: The only thing I didn't get was

why Sibby was so mad at the main character for going back, as if the antagonist wouldn't have started releasing the spores and killing the city if she hadn't (cause he already was).

This was great, confusing, but great. Absolutely everything happens in the last hundred pages and made a lot of the start and middle feel very slow and filler-like, but the book came together wonderfully when it did, when plot points and characters and places all connected.

Wasn’t a huge fan of the stuff with Kiada and Yat at the end just because it was so rushed, kinda predictable, and irritating to read through their interactions where Yat doesn’t recognise her.

A challenging bisexual main character, two wlw couples, a cute cat!! Cool plants!!! Cool setting!!! I love the world, it truly is a mix of Black Sun and Gideon the Ninth; I really like the integration of the gods in this, of the powers and magic, of death not necessarily meaning the end. Truly great, loved this.

'The Dawnhounds' by Sascha Stronach is a creative fantasy with unique worldbuilding and a cast of complex characters.
The story centers on Yat Jyn-Hok, a cop who lives in a city where plant power has taken over a once industrialized city. When she happens upon a murder, the perpetrators kill her as well. But Yat wakes up with a newfound ability to sense the threads of life that make up every living being that surrounds her. As Yat searches for an explanation for what happened to her and why she didn't die, she starts to uncover a plot to transform the city she loves, including everyone in it. 
Stronach creates a unique world in The Dawnhounds and then lets us as the reader uncover all of its different aspects slowly throughout the story. There is biotech, living houses, pirate ships that can be transported across long distances in mere moments, and ammunition imbued with living, hungry grubs. Stronach explores both the beauty and the potential terror of biotech throughout the work. Along with the world, the characters are the other strong point in this novel. My favorite character is a pirate captain who can harness the threads of life and may be far older than anyone could guess. The characters weave into the worldbuilding in really interesting ways that helps to make them feel important and also help us to discover more about the world Stronach has created. I am looking forward to where this story goes next and cannot wait to pick up the next 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.