god i just want to cry. everything about this -- presentation, story, sound, is so potent. i felt like i was playing pretend in my grandmother's garden, in the gauzy timelessness of childhood, and then slowly, forcibly, growing up.
the fairy's physical helplessness felt so perfectly emphasized, too small and clumsy to escape, even with wings. it's so easy for a person to kill a bug. it felt like it would be just as easy for Katurian to fulfill her promise to squeeze the fairy "until she popped". as a reader i was never not aware of the fairy's complete vulnerability.
i really, really loved the end, because (evil reasons), but also because it felt so unexpected yet still so completely earned. the visuals sell it just as much as the prose. fuck the rules, there are other ways to win.