*I received this book from the publisher for review. This does not affect my opinion or the content of my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. I am an Amazon affiliate and I may receive a small compensation if you make a purchase through one of my links.
by Sally Green
Series: The Smoke Thieves, Book 1
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
by Viking Books for Young Readers
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 532
Source: Publisher via Penguin First To Read
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5 Stars)
A shrewd princess whose father is plotting against her. A brave soldier turned traitor. A loyal servant on a quest to avenge his family. A streetwise demon smoke hunter in desperate need of money. A charming thief with no clue about his true identity. Their lives would never intersect, until a war between kingdoms bubbles up, and the dangerous truth about demon smoke intertwines all their fates. Welcome to The Smoke Thieves, a tangled web of political intrigue, shifting alliances, and forbidden love, in a world where sometimes no amount of magic can keep you safe.
The synopsis of this book intrigued me. I also saw that it was described as Game of Thrones for the young adult genre, and I became even more intrigued. Game of Thrones is one of my favorite television shows (never read the books). Unfortunately, this book is not one of my favorite books. I thought the story was just average and a little underwhelming.
So many main characters
There are five main characters in this story and each chapter was told from one of their perspectives. These alternating narratives tended to be a little jarring and I had a difficult time trying to keep all the characters' stories straight.
This book was long
At over 500 pages, The Smoke Thieves took me forever to get through. It seriously felt like I was reading this book for an eternity. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was a shorter book. There were certain parts in the story that seemed to drag and I found myself losing interest. This was definitely not a book that I read in one sitting (or two or three sittings).
The characters were interesting
I thought the main characters were well fleshed out and they were pretty interesting, each with very different personalities. Tash is a young spunky demon smoke hunter. She needs money so she ends up working for a demon hunter collecting demon smoke to sell. Catherine is a princess who is in love with one man but forced to marry another. She was one of my favorite characters in this story because she had such a strong personality. Ambrose is a soldier who becomes a traitor. He loves Catherine and will do anything to protect her. March is a servant who is intent on avenging his family, and lastly, Edyon is a thief who is unaware of his true identity.
Something was missing from the story
I don't know why I started losing interest in the story but about half way through I became very bored. Maybe I just wanted more action or maybe it was because I was comparing this book to Game of Thrones. I'm not sure exactly what it was but something was missing from this story for me.
This is the first book in a series and I don't know if I'm interested enough to continue on. I'm hoping the next book will be more exciting, but I don't know how likely it is that I'll pick up the second one in this series. I think the author's writing is good but the story left me a little underwhelmed.
If you enjoy fantasy, you might like this book, but if you're looking for an action-packed epic fantasy that you can't put down, you might want to skip this one.
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