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ettegoom 's review for:

Illuminations by T. Kingfisher
3.0
adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I picked this up after reading Nettle and Bone,  and A Wizard's Guide.  
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other two, but it was still a good read.  
I found the tension much greater in this story than the other two, which may be why I didn't enjoy it as much.  
I also found some of the characters a little bizarre, I'm not sure whether they were supposed to be neuro-diverse or just excessively quirky, it grated a little though.  
The Scarling's magic reminded me a lot of chalklings from The Rithmatist, although it's been a long time since I read that, so I may be misremembering. 
I did like the magic system, I'm a fan of magic that's based around arts or manual skills, where the magic comes from the care or intention of the artist, it's a bit more interesting than spells, wands and staves.  
It's a bit heavy-handed at times, and there are some cliches that make it difficult to tell whether it's a children's book or sobering for adults.  
Overall it's a fun read for a rainy Saturday.