“He didn’t understand that sometimes the only way to take down what had destroyed you was to disguise yourself as part of it.”
Starting this book, I thought I was in for a 3 star read. There is so much information thrown at you – it felt a bit dense, and also it felt a bit repetitive – I swear I’d be reading the same paragraph from earlier at times.
I loved the different mythologies melding together, and this book is chock full of them, but it was all the extra detail to explain this that felt a bit too much at times (but it was needed). However, upon finishing the book I am definitely hooked in, and so glad to learn this is to be a trilogy. I need more ASAP!
“When we revise the horror and sanitize the grotesque, we risk erasing the paths that led us here.”
This story is set in 19th Century Paris and doesn’t skimp on the less than flattering details of this history – and many of the historic details are real. The fantasy is brought with the art of Forging – believed to be linked to fragments of the Tower of Babel, and ‘governed’ by the Order of Babel. The book pulls on different cultures and incorporates their myths to build this fantasy-scape, most notably, in my mind, those from Ancient Eygpt.
Against this backdrop, we follow a band of expert thieves – who seek out and reacquire items and artefacts the back from the Order. There’s scheming, puzzles, and intrigue – it makes me think of The Da Vinci Code if it was set in a world more like Six of Crows.
Each member of their rag-tag band has their reasons for teaming up with the leader of the group, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie – an orphaned heir stripped of his families house by the Order and cast out, but there is definitely a strong feeling of found family between them all. I also love how diverse they all are.
“That boy looks like every dark corner of a fairy tale. The wolf in bed. The apple in a witch’s palm.”
The final chapters were cruel. I know it’s the first in a series, but there aren’t any nice little tied up endings here – just more questions than you started with!
A solid four stars.
Published: Jan 2019
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: Historical Fantasy, YA
Page Count: 388
Goodreads Page
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Bookworm's Feast 
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