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A review by nattyg
City of Lies by Sam Hawke
5.0
This was really, really, amazing. A debut book worth reading
The beginning was slow-ish in the way that all world-building authors start, they have to introduce you to the characters and the world all while starting the plot. It's a balance. The first 20 pgs or so was that way with me. We're dropped into the plot and kind of paddle around getting our bearings.
Have you ever wondered, during a rebellion, the point of view of the oppressors? I didn't realize I needed that until this book. It's true that there's two sides to every story and that while it is easier to side with (and write about) the repressed, Sam Hawke took on the oppressors. The elite. The ones who should have known better but didn't. Hawke crafts a tale that has you whipping through 100pgs and wondering how that happened. In fact, I read from pg 400 till the end last night and stayed up happily.
There's two narrators - a brother Jovan and a sister Kalina - and the chapters alternate between the two. And once one of the narrators stops narrating.... oh wow! Masterful. The loss is very profound.
I highly recommend, it's really well done.
The beginning was slow-ish in the way that all world-building authors start, they have to introduce you to the characters and the world all while starting the plot. It's a balance. The first 20 pgs or so was that way with me. We're dropped into the plot and kind of paddle around getting our bearings.
Have you ever wondered, during a rebellion, the point of view of the oppressors? I didn't realize I needed that until this book. It's true that there's two sides to every story and that while it is easier to side with (and write about) the repressed, Sam Hawke took on the oppressors. The elite. The ones who should have known better but didn't. Hawke crafts a tale that has you whipping through 100pgs and wondering how that happened. In fact, I read from pg 400 till the end last night and stayed up happily.
There's two narrators - a brother Jovan and a sister Kalina - and the chapters alternate between the two. And once one of the narrators stops narrating.... oh wow! Masterful. The loss is very profound.
I highly recommend, it's really well done.