Rating: 4 Stars
Publication: May 21st, 2019
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Egalley
Diversity: Not Sure
Summary:
In Cantagna, being a sorcerer is a death sentence. Romy escapes her hardscrabble upbringing when she becomes courtesan to the Shadow Lord, a revolutionary noble who brings laws and comforts once reserved for the wealthy to all. When her brother, Neri, is caught thieving with the aid of magic, Romy's aristocratic influence is the only thing that can spare his life, and the price is her banishment. Now back in Beggar’s Ring, she has just her wits and her own long-hidden sorcery to help her and Neri survive. But when a plot to overthrow the Shadow Lord and incite civil war is uncovered, only Romy knows how to stop it. To do so, she’ll have to rely on newfound allies; a swordmaster, a silversmith, and her own thieving brother. And they'll need the very thing that could condemn them all. Magic.
My Thoughts:
I didnt know this was classified as an adult fantasy when I requested it, but I really enjoyed following a character a little older than what I normally read. Romy is a 24 year old courtesan who was sold to the Moon House because of her mothers fear and hate of her daughters forbidden magic. Romy has a great deal of knowledge from her courtesan training and she has fantastic problem solving skills. Im still unsure how she knew so much about metalwork though. With their parents banished from the city, Romy is given responsibility of her reckless brother and shes determined to keep him out of trouble. Their relationship is the main one in this book which was a nice change from the usual romance. Their dynamic felt pretty authentic to me and I just liked seeing them get closer.
At her wits end with her brothers antics, Romy hires a swordmaster to teach her brother some discipline and confidence. I thought the swordmaster was an intriguing character with all the secrets he was keeping. His training did Romys brother a lot good and even helped him find a job as a guard at a local tavern. Then we meet a metalsmith when his chase from law enforcement has him crossing paths with Romy and her brother while they were doing some incriminating magic. The metalsmiths wife was absolutely wonderful and I love that Romy got another woman to talk to. These people helped Romy open her eyes to the possibilty that magic might not be as evil as she was led to believe. I also enjoyed seeing the way they all came together to try to excute Romys plan.
The first half of the book is a little slower as it focuses mostly on establishing the characters and the world, but in the second half we get a very entertaining heist plot line. There was one big flaw in their plan that I just couldnt overlook. The fact that they werent immediately arrested for bringing in an artifact that was reported stolen was completely unbelievable to me. Despite that I loved all the scheming. Romy was blackmailed into the heist, but she does it for the good of the city and the people who live there. The story was so engaging that I found myself thinking about even when I wasnt reading it. I just really enjoyed seeing Romy make a new life for herself after being released from her obligations as a courtesan.
The world had a beautiful Italian Renaissance vibe but with some added magic that differs from person to person. Some abilities include finding any object, walking through walls, changing memories, and much more. Its believed that people with this magic are demon tainted and are often blamed for any natural disaster that occurs. Their law enforcement uses sorcerers they've captured and mutated to sniff out magic. The writing felt a bit more complexe then young adult, but I quickly got use to it. I think this is a great young adult to adult crossover that a lot of people will enjoy. It has those young adult themes about a character coming into their own, but with a slightly older main character who finds work and takes care of her little brother. I like how the book ended with a possible new mission thats even riskier than the first. A mission that might just prevent a war.
*This book was received for an honest review
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