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3 stars! This review will be spoiler free!
Short synops:
We follow five characters, Severin, Laila, Enrique, Zofia, and Tristan, in a late 1800’s Parisian fantasy world as they navigate the high houses and some secret societies in order to complete a heist that will gain the leader of their founded family [Severin] the position he rightfully deserves as Patriarch of one of the high houses.
Things I liked:
Representative (POC, spectrum, bisexuality). I especially loved that Zofia being on the spectrum was believable and played a crucial role in the plot and even occasionally the comedic relief.
Fast paced plot that flows pretty well though my enjoyment was hindered often because I wasn’t given enough information to really picture the scenes in my head and sometimes it just felt TOO fast? Like sometimes I’d be reading and get through a chapter and think, “oh it’s already over?” or “oh wait, we’re done here?”
Severin's and Laila's backstories were flushed out and unique.
The main romance that was already established between Severin and Laila was angsty and burning. I liked that they had the ambition to stay away from each other, to not let anything even their feelings for each other, get in the way of their goals. BUT it still fed into the angst because you know can actually feel their emotions for each other throughout the story and how strong they’re trying to be to stay away from each other.
The other romance/potential romance is nearly a triangle? Kind of has the potential to be a triangle? But with bi rep that was tastefully added and accepted by the characters themselves. Very refreshing.
The short story allusions to the 7 deadly sins (Severin’s different fathers) that were added throughout the plot were tasteful and insightful into Severin.
Tomb Raider vibes in regards to the heists were pretty cool. I feel like this was more along the vibes of Tomb Raider rather than Six of Crows (which is what most people have been liking this book to). I did not get many SoC vibes to be honest, I rather kept the comparison between the two at a 0 throughout the time I was reading TGW.
Things I didn’t like:
Representative was great, but I’m more critical of Enrique being Filipino. I’m Filipino, raised immersed in Filipino culture, AND I FINALLY read a book with a Filipino character [Enrique] and yet that was the only thing I remember about him. None of the Filipino culture really came through in the story. This is one of the problems I have with diversity in books. Its when the diversity adds nothing to the book other than a little background info the character, is it really diverse? I DON’T KNOW. He was basically white in the fact that his face was more Spaniard than Filipino, but whatever. I made my point. I can’t stand when one factoid of a character is that he descends from a POC, but then has nearly none of the culture or looks or thoughts of that POC. He could seriously just be a Spaniard, rather than mistizo and I wouldn’t have known the change.
Within the plot, some of the twists were predictable. There were things that made me go, how did you not see that coming? Like whole traps laid that seemed obvious to me, but not to the characters.
Enrique's, Zofia's, Tristan's, and Hypnos's backstories weren't as flushed out, if they were they were rather forgettable because I can't remember them.
Another big OOF for me was that I got lost a LOT with the lack of imagery. First, the world itself I couldn’t fully imagine or the magic system. I was confused by the forging and even though the explanation of forging in the beginning which was ultimately an info dump, I still couldn’t wrap my head around which characters could forge and how they did it. It’s like it kind of just happens and then they just tell you that they forged these specific items to do these specific thing. The magic just felt random. Second, it wasn’t until the middle of the book that I maybe finally was able to picture these characters faces, literally couldn’t picture the face of one of the crew members (Zofia) until the very end. Also they feel incredibly older than young adult. I feel like Severin and Laila should be early 20’s. Zofia, Enrique and Hypnos are late teens. Tristan is like 16 maybe? Third, within different action scenes that felt kind of Tomb Raider-ey (which I liked), I wasn’t able to complete picture what was going on. I had more vibes than pictures.
Overall:
The ending was still rather good, the last few chapters of the book itself were more 4.5 stars just on their own That was one twist I didn't see coming. And also one reaction I didn't expect. BUT LOVED. And the next book seems like it has potential for a very good plot that can be a little more drawn out, taken a little slowly. I'll be here for that. We'll see.