A review by lezreadalot
Prosperity by Alexis Hall

4.0

Oh man. What is there so say that hasn't already been said?

- Gorgeous, expressive, really creative writing and manipulation of English to give us a new 19th century slang that painted pictures in your mind. It took a while to get used to, certainly, but wasn't difficult to read at all.
- A protagonist who wormed his way into my heart from the very first. It's not every day I get a black, queer, dyslexic street punk who gets to reluctantly save the world and fall in love (twice!) along the way. I LOVE Piccadilly so much. I don't think I would have loved this story half as much if it hadn't been told through his eyes.
- Absolutely FANTASTIC world-building, from the aerial travel to the phlogiston and its uses to the city in the air to the eldritch nightmares lurking the skies. It was super creative all over.
- A great cast of diverse characters. I was delighted with Byron Kae, and I hope they, as well as their relationship with Dil, get more screen time in the rest of the series. Miss Grey was wonderful. (β€œI am trying,” she said betwixt gritted teeth, β€œto fuck.” My heroine.) And my opinion on Milord never really got a chance to settle, but I adored Ruben/Milord, and I was rooting for them 90%. (The other 1o% of course being for Ruben/Piccadilly, which I couldn't help but love.) It's true, Ruben does makes everyone around him better.
- Just a really fun story in general! I laughed out loud more than once.

I enjoyed this book a LOT, I can't stop grinning. I will say that there was a lot of ableist language that the book could have definitely done without, but otherwise? Definitely a favourite. I recommend it highly.

4.5