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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
The magic system? The lore? The ending??? Wow, what a fun ride this ended up being, especially towards the last half when I just couldn't put it down. I really got attached to the characters, their voices were really clear, and I got pulled into the lore of the world. I'm so curious about everything left unanswered and definitely want to continue the series!
4.25! Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The magic system was creative and interesting, and the story was a good balance of comedy and dark events. I found myself laughing out loud to much of this book. Be warned though, it is an adult book!
I don't know if this was because of the audiobook, but there were some parts that were difficult to follow and almost too fast-paced. I found that I had to keep on rewinding because I missed something important or the volume was so low at parts that I couldn't understand what was being said even with the volume turned up.
And one more thing. I didn't mind the human experimentation parts of the plot, but I'm just a little tired of slave narratives for the characters of color in fantasy. I love that the cast was wonderfully diverse in many ways, but with the main character being black/brown skinned the slave narrative just rubbed me the wrong way. The PTSD rep for Sancia as far as the human experimentation goes was very well done.
Otherwise a very enjoyable and interesting read. Still one of my favorites of the year so far. I look forward to the next installment!
I don't know if this was because of the audiobook, but there were some parts that were difficult to follow and almost too fast-paced. I found that I had to keep on rewinding because I missed something important or the volume was so low at parts that I couldn't understand what was being said even with the volume turned up.
And one more thing. I didn't mind the human experimentation parts of the plot, but I'm just a little tired of slave narratives for the characters of color in fantasy. I love that the cast was wonderfully diverse in many ways, but with the main character being black/brown skinned the slave narrative just rubbed me the wrong way. The PTSD rep for Sancia as far as the human experimentation goes was very well done.
Otherwise a very enjoyable and interesting read. Still one of my favorites of the year so far. I look forward to the next installment!
3.5
Really cool worldbuilding and magic system. Wish the prose and character work matched up!
Really cool worldbuilding and magic system. Wish the prose and character work matched up!
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The magic system in this book is one of my all-time favourites, ingenious, intricate, and unlike anything I’ve read. The worldbuilding is masterfully crafted, with every detail clicking into place as the story unfolds, leading to some truly delicious plot twists.
Our FMC Sancia is a sharp-witted thief whose latest job pulls her into a whirlwind of dangerous adventures, shadowy political schemes, and unexpected alliances.
Told through multiple POVs, this story delivers high-stakes heists, layered with character-driven trauma and emotional depth. The magic system is brilliantly unique. A blend of coding, law, and persuasion, where you can “convince” inanimate objects to defy their nature and obey new commands, almost like dragging them into court and rewriting their reality.
Oh and my fav part… Clef!
Our FMC Sancia is a sharp-witted thief whose latest job pulls her into a whirlwind of dangerous adventures, shadowy political schemes, and unexpected alliances.
Told through multiple POVs, this story delivers high-stakes heists, layered with character-driven trauma and emotional depth. The magic system is brilliantly unique. A blend of coding, law, and persuasion, where you can “convince” inanimate objects to defy their nature and obey new commands, almost like dragging them into court and rewriting their reality.
Oh and my fav part… Clef!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Imaginative and a serious page-turner. In so many ways, it was also a refreshing read. Read it and you'll know what I mean. Excited for the second book this year!
Loved the mix of genres, part fantasy, part renaissance but also somehow a cyberpunk vibe? Really enjoyed the world and the characters.
Some bits of dialogue etc are a bit “as you know, Bob” in moments, where you can feel Plot Gears frantically working over time, and I actually guessed a couple lore/plot point things about 100/150 pages before they occurred (though not all of them!), but I really like the conceit of weirdly adorable talkative objects and the continually escalating anticapitalism vibes (and the literal gayness that creeps in). Like me a hardscrabble queer female MC, too, and although I was “oh please” at Gregor at first, he also grew on me. Fantasy trimmings but the magic seems to be essentially mystic-ified computers/AI/cyborgian stuff, so there’s a lot of soft sci-fi involved too.
Neurotic AI and hacker magic
Men-in-Black with hellava rigs
The plight of working people
I really liked this book. I like the relationship between Sancia and Clef. The technology magic was really interesting. As a programmer, it reminded me a lot of assembly language where Clef is a master hacker. There was good character development with the secondary characters Gregor and Orso, where they started out as pretty stock character but quickly changed into ones with more depth. Good surprises and over the top caper heists. The tone of the book felt light at first, but gets pretty dark at times with the violent weapons during battles and trauma that the characters have experienced in their past. One of the better books I've read recently and I'm definitely excited for the next book in the series.
Men-in-Black with hellava rigs
The plight of working people
I really liked this book. I like the relationship between Sancia and Clef. The technology magic was really interesting. As a programmer, it reminded me a lot of assembly language where Clef is a master hacker. There was good character development with the secondary characters Gregor and Orso, where they started out as pretty stock character but quickly changed into ones with more depth. Good surprises and over the top caper heists. The tone of the book felt light at first, but gets pretty dark at times with the violent weapons during battles and trauma that the characters have experienced in their past. One of the better books I've read recently and I'm definitely excited for the next book in the series.