At this time in my reading journey I tend to avoid books that involve kings & queens (or similar themes) as I’ve become quite bored of reading the same story, but with slightly different characters & not-so-different world-building… I broke that rule for The Smoke Thieves though; & that’s because I adore Sally Green. Sally did not let me down. The Smoke Thieves was funny, exciting & original (at least for me) & I’m eager to get my hands on the next book.

This book contains violence, ableist slurs, a homophobic character & bloodshed throughout.

It’s embarrassing to think about how many emails I sent trying to get my hands on an early copy of this book – I know I could have requested it through NetGalley, & I probably would have been approved, but I wanted a print copy so badly. Unfortunately, every single one of my emails was ignored & I ended up getting an early copy from my pal in the US, Lili from Utopia-State-Of-Mind.com. Although I’m disappointed that the publishers didn’t pick me as a reviewer, I’m overjoyed that I managed to start this book before it was released. The Smoke Thieves is a slow burner that requires patience from it’s readers – but, that patience is rewarded with a high-intensity ending that leaves your heart pumping & desperate for the sequel.

As I said in my introduction, I tend to avoid books about kings / queens / emperors / empresses (basically anything about a kingdom falling apart) but I’ve broken that rule a few times recently, with the most recent rule-breaker being The Smoke Thieves (the others being The Beast Player & The Poppy War). Due to my typical avoidance of these types of books, The Smoke Thieves felt original & exciting to me, & I loved getting to know this brand new world that has come from Sally’s imagination. I loved that the plot burned slowly to start with, & I really wish I could have read this book in one sitting because I feel like I would have benefited from the pace-changes a lot more. The characters were all different from one another & there wasn’t a single point-of-view that I didn’t enjoy reading (which is great considering there are five) – although, I of course had my favourites; hello Tash & Catherine. Basically, I loved this book – albeit not quite as much as Sally’s first series (but I’m in love with Nathan, so that’s to be expected).

As well as this being a rule-breaker book for me, it’s also the first book I’ve read with demons in it – at least I think it is… & they were fab. I loved the little pieces of information we learned about the demons in this book & I’m really interested in what else we’re going to learn about them in the next book. The Smoke Thieves starts with us stepping into the demons’ world for a very brief moment, & I hope there’s more of this to come. I liked that the demons weren’t the typical haunting type, & that their position in the story was more than just something to spook the readers.

Taken from the preview on GoodReads

As well as enjoying the characters & demons, I liked the world-building as well; I loved how much Brigant & Pitoria contrasted each other & I would love this series to make it to the screens, just so that I could gaze longingly at the Pitorian fashions & hairstyles – just imagine how much hair dye would be used!! I also enjoyed that we were given small snippets of Calidor & I’m excited about how this small country will play it’s part in the feud between it’s larger neighbours. I also can’t wait to learn more about Illast & Savaant – which I’m sure will eventually happen.

I really loved this book & it’s made me even more excited about meeting Sally at YALC this July – you can order your copy of the book using the links below! If you use the Amazon or Book Depository links to make a purchase I will receive a small fee at no cost to you so please consider doing so.
Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery

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