4.5 strong. 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫. ( )

I REALLY loved this. Genuinely. Loved the characters, the plot was fast paced and fun, no complaints ( )

Terrific stuff. I'm a sucker for fantasy and heist stories, so this hit two in one for me. The world is delightfully twisted and brutal and I found myself immersed into the story fairly quickly. It does feel like an amalgamation of many other young adult/fantasy books I've read, but in a good way. I'm not sure if I buy these characters being in their late teens (would maybe make more sense if they were in their mid to late 20s) in terms of dialogue and life experience, but that's a minor complaint. Really liked the world building too, Bardugo's take on magic and the various factions' relations to it was really interesting. Really keen for the next book, Crooked Kingdom. ( )

1. I love me that slow burn found family
2. Enemies to lovers! To enemies! To lovers?
3. The yearning!
4. Daring rescues!
5. It's 2020, men are bi.
6. Near death experiences!
7. A boat!
8. Catwoman!
9. Someone who appreciates guns as tools, but isn't obsessed with them.
10. Sometimes the bad guys are the only good guys you get.
Delightful, I can't wait to read more. ( )

I think I have reached YA overload. This book was a 2.5 star for me. I just couldn't get hooked. I have started and stopped it so many times. I like her writing and completely understand why people like this book. I have just read better caper novels.

Again, I will fully embrace that I am having a horrible time reading YA right now. Absolutely none of them are connecting with me. I think if I had read this book a few years ago I would have been much more fully involved. ( )