Published: January 2021
Pages: 631
Summary
Ren is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house, securing her fortune and her sister’s future.
But as she’s drawn into the elite world of House Traementis, she realizes her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as nightmare magic begins to weave its way through the City of Dreams, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled… with Ren at their heart.
My thoughts
Six of Crows meets V for Vendetta
I love a masked vigilante, I love scheming and cons, I love characters that use their wit instead of brute force, and I love my books filled with political intrigue and emotion. This book is filled with all of it.
There are minor issues I had reading this story and in controversial fashion, I’m going to start with those because despite these minor faults, I loved this book.
There are a lot of characters
There are so many people to remember and by the end, I still can’t tell you everyone’s name. In classic fantasy fashion the names are very complicated and there is only so much my brain can retain. More a me problem than anything. Amongst all these characters there are also a lot of place names, cultural references and political issues to remember. So many new terms I don’t recall but by the end but I had the overall jist of it. So although its not a problem for me, it can be quite overwhelming.
“Trust is the thread that binds us… and the rope that hangs us.”
The pacing goes from 0-60 very quickly
I don’t mind a slower paced book and I think it works well in this story because the first chunk of this book we really get to understand our main characters, see a bit more of their background and set up a lot of what is to come. We understand more about the different Houses and where the political alliances are, whilst really getting a sense of the wealth disparity between those of the Houses and the gangs that survive in the slums. But let me tell you, once you get passed the first third this book is all action and it does not relent. It can be quite jarring but I didn’t care so much because there is so much going on.
We have so many characters and so many subplots. It can be quite hard to keep up with it all to be honest. It was the masked vigilante that kept be going in the slower chapters because I’m just a sucker for a Robin Hood.
“But with him, law and order were the Mask, and corruption was the Face beneath.”
I really liked our main characters and having it focussed on a sisterly love rather than a romantic one. These women would do anything for each other and we get to see that in the way they speak and act with other. Their love runs deep and we are there for the journey.
Despite this starting off with a con, I thought I would be on one side rather than another but that turned out to not be the case. I really like Ren and the bonds she created with House Traementis and I am very interested to see how this plays out across the trilogy. Also how beautiful is this edition? The artwork is incredible.
Character development is strong and surprising
There is a variety of characters and representation. I really enjoyed the development of our main cast, their behaviour and actions, as well as all the fun niggles along the way.
There is definitely a larger mystery at play here and although we get a piece of the story ‘wrapped’ up by the end, there is so much more to come and I have a list of questions I’m looking forward to getting some answers on. I cannot wait to keep reading this story in book two, it is definitely a priority for me!
Would I recommend?
I would! I found this to be a very enjoyable book. Despite a slow start and lots of characters to keep track of, I really liked this story and once I got into it I struggled to put it down! I will be continuing this series to see where it goes.