Book Review: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

This book has been on my to-read list for a while since, along with Gideon The Ninth, it's received a lot of praise and award nominations. I did have to put a pause while I read a collection of short stories, but that did not detract from my enjoyment. Here's the Goodreads blurb:

Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accident—or that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court.

Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.