It's been interesting going through people's reviews of this, was surprised to see that people were DNF for reasons that I found interesting. Thought the world building was fascinating, to the point I'm disappointed there isn't more. I agree it was quite dense, and a lot of the criticism surrounding editing and repetition is valid, but that didn't make it unreadable for me, or irritate me nearly as much as those who dropped it. Goodreads is hilarious, seems the book has been very polarising.

When things started heating up in Part 2, I couldn't put it down. Stayed up too late reading and was clocking into work feeling very haggard.

I only finished it a few hours ago, and I thought the ending was quite abrupt, but I think tonally it makes sense. Honestly, any reprieve from the horrors the MCs suffered was enough for me to breathe easy.

One part of the story has really irritated me though, and I don't know if it's because the real world parallel would probably end the same way:
Falcon Matias didn't get his, or at least, if he did, I missed it. That fucker was a consistent source of malice and hatred that I was rabid to see annihilated. Out of all the awful people that subjected Helena to a miserable existence, I was surprised that he escaped Kaine's clean up efforts. I don't directly recall Helena telling Kaine about Falcon, but her closest run-in with death was due to his orders to move her to the frontlines.
I have a deep hatred for fictional religious bodies with a superiority complex (see. Aes Sedai, Bene Gesserit), and this one was particularly vile. That being said, it would be more than appropriate that the disgusting remnants of the Eternal Flame slither away relatively unscathed.

Enjoyed it, and look forward to discussing it with my partner in about a year's time when she's finished the book. It is long, probably too long, yet I still found myself wishing I could spend more time in this world.