As someone who grew up in the late 90s, the Y2K setting brought back memories I didn't know I had. But what kept me reading was how the author handles these three broken people learning to trust each other. Florin's character especially got me. The way his abuse disconnected him from his own body, and how that affects his powers, made so much psychological sense.

The sibling relationship is what makes this book work. Three people who should hate each other because of their circumstances, learning they're family and having to figure out what that even means. The emotional growth has to happen first. That's refreshing in a genre where characters usually just get stronger through practice.

I'm a therapist and I appreciate when fiction gets trauma right. This book does. Each sibling's wound matches their power in ways that feel authentic, not gimmicky. Ribecka suppressing emotions affecting time perception, Sean's gaslighting making him doubt his mental abilities, Florin's physical abuse disconnecting him from matter manipulation. The author clearly understands how trauma lives in the body and mind.