Triss must confront the fact that she is not the real daughter but a magical construct, and the real Triss is trapped and dying; her parents' grief and the question of whether she has a right to exist create profound emotional weight; themes of identity, impostor syndrome, and the fear of being unwanted are handled with literary sophistication.

Triss consumes enormous amounts of food in a desperate attempt to sustain her false body; the real Triss is trapped and slowly fading; the Architect who created changeling-Triss is a genuinely frightening figure; violence is fantastical but unsettling.