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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
3.5 stars, a great way to spend a dreary afternoon! The banter, as always, was excellent
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
look i still love this series, but i just find the whole AHH HOW DARE YOU SAY THIS THING THAT I MISUNDERSTOOD OR JUMPED TO CONCLUSIONS ABOUT I HATE YOU NOW by sabetha followed by AHHH I AM SO TERRIBLE I APOLOGISE FOR EVERYTHING I HAVE EVER DONE EVEN THOUGH YOU BETRAYED ME BUT I AM STILL SO IN LOVE AND WILL NEVER GIVE UP by locke a bit tedious really. i was also a bit confused and tbh annoyed by this weird acanthus thing… and that patience ending being so cryptic, it felt like the author wanted to keep things open for the next bajillion books coming without really having to make a decision on who locke really is. and BRO the fact that sabatha left AGAIN??? without speaking to locke??? that is actually so stupid. in general: would have loved more locke and jean capers (loved those in book 1 &2) rather than the concentration on the romance though. finally meeting sabetha was super cool and she is definitely a layered character with edges that usually women written by men don’t get, she’s too impulsive and immediately jumps to the worst possible conclusion about locke who has done NOTHING but adore her, so it was a bit of a drag to read about their relationship sometimes… but i can’t say i didn’t enjoy the ride! dragged a bit in parts but i LOOOOOVED the theatre bits of this book, being a shakespeare/theatre nerd from childhood onwards. i think book 2 comes in as my favourite of the three because three has the issues i described and one had the issues a debut novel often has - show don‘t tell, a tiny bit expository in between the action chapters - so 2 really came into its own with the plot, pacing, character dev, and banter between jean and locke.
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
This entire series is so wonderful! I NEED BOOK 4!! This is the adult version of six of crows. Every book could work as a standalone, although this one takes a hell of a twist and leaves with a small cliffhanger! Locke is a very very good protagonist!! The middle got a little slow for me but you are so invested in the lives of these characters that you cant stop!
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked Republic of Thieves, but it doesn't quite come together as well as the previous two books. The character development and world building are still great, but the through line of both plots in the book don't quite come together for me.
Like the previous two books, Republic of Thieves has two parallel stories, each of which informs the characterizations of the other.
The present story is Jean and Locke working to rig an election in a competition against their estranged friend Sabetha. The 'thieves as political operators' is a cool take, but it suffers for the focus on Sabetha and Locke's relationship and Lynch handwaves a lot of the events towards the end in an unsatisfying way.
The past story is about the Gentlemen Bastards working to save a theater troupe and become players themselves and has some development of characters who haven't been as present, like Calo, Galdo, and Sabetha. I liked this story a bit more than the present timeline, though similarly, it struggles for being so focused on Sabetha and Locke.
Lynch uses the fact that the relationship between Locke and Jean has been well established and strengthened in previous books to let this story be more about Locke and Sabetha. Unfortunately, this pairing isn't as strong. Locke is earnest (if clumsy) in this arena and Sabetha is standoffish and cold, which makes it hard to find much to like about her. The plot focuses so hard on exploring this relationship that both of the capers in the book get short shrift and are less satisfying because of it.
This book is still a fun read and advances the story in some very interesting ways, it just isn't as incredible as the first two. I am definitely looking forward to the next books in the series when they eventually come out and I hope Lynch can find his way back to the heart of these stories.
Like the previous two books, Republic of Thieves has two parallel stories, each of which informs the characterizations of the other.
The present story is Jean and Locke working to rig an election in a competition against their estranged friend Sabetha. The 'thieves as political operators' is a cool take, but it suffers for the focus on Sabetha and Locke's relationship and Lynch handwaves a lot of the events towards the end in an unsatisfying way.
The past story is about the Gentlemen Bastards working to save a theater troupe and become players themselves and has some development of characters who haven't been as present, like Calo, Galdo, and Sabetha. I liked this story a bit more than the present timeline, though similarly, it struggles for being so focused on Sabetha and Locke.
Lynch uses the fact that the relationship between Locke and Jean has been well established and strengthened in previous books to let this story be more about Locke and Sabetha. Unfortunately, this pairing isn't as strong. Locke is earnest (if clumsy) in this arena and Sabetha is standoffish and cold, which makes it hard to find much to like about her. The plot focuses so hard on exploring this relationship that both of the capers in the book get short shrift and are less satisfying because of it.
This book is still a fun read and advances the story in some very interesting ways, it just isn't as incredible as the first two. I am definitely looking forward to the next books in the series when they eventually come out and I hope Lynch can find his way back to the heart of these stories.