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chibi418's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Really love how this was written even though I did not really like any of the characters. The world building was kinda terrible too tbh. But it was entertaining and I enjoyed it. The tense parts had me on the edge of my seat. I saw some of the twists and betrayal but not all of them, which is fun! Also the world made me think of D&D specifically The Lords of Waterdeep game.
sara_reads_and_wines's review against another edition
Going to wait for ebook. The audio was too confusing for me to keep up with each POV and character story. I am really intrigued, just format didn't work for me.
debchan's review against another edition
2.5
while it wasn't good i still enjoyed it and had a great time reading it. that said, six of crows DUPEEEE??
no seriously i don't want to comb over all the similarities but everytime something happening i'd be like i know exactly what's going to happen next just because i've already read it in SOC. the supposed plot twists were great just because we were blatantly told about them so i felt really smart. yay!
one big difference here from SOC that i do like and enjoyed reading was that they're like the opposite of found family. in fact, they're all betraying each other. which is great! except for the fact that again all plot twists have been revealed so it's really just known plot/foreshadowing?
the worldbuilding would be nice if we had a map or a glossary and weren't just thrown headfirst into it with A LOT of details and names to remember. like i love being thrown into a world (e.g. The Bone Ships) but this was a bit much. it took me so long to parse out everything and even then i don't think i understood fully what all those fancy names/place were.
ryia: definitely my favorite character. she's so funny, loud, obnoxious, competent, the whole package really! as the saying goes, idk if i want to be her or be with her FR. she's the Butcher of Carrowick and she's very good at her job which is like spying and killing and just being generally terrifying. like if nina's and jesper's personality was merged with inej's abilities with kaz's conscience and main character syndrome. just like all of them she had a secret about her past which is coming back to haunt her. honestly i wish her all the best to succeed in her future endeavors.
tristan: loser. hope his day gets worse like actually. jokes aside, he was cut and paste WYLAN except such a loser version. wylan would never. yeah he also had a complicated past we're kinda told instead of it being a big reveal like why was it so obvious what his secret was. i just wish this was a little more unreliable narration like just because we're in their head doesn't mean they have to tell the reader every secret and detail. ik called him a loser but i really do understand his choice and i respect him for it, i just wish he wasn't so pathetic about it.
nash: empress of the three seas! who calls her that? who knows, certainly not nash. anyways, i love that what i got from her was that she was a great sailor (idk the term for someone good with ships lol) and that she would lie to the whole world and stay in a serpent den (literlly) to stay alive. i wish i could've gotten more of her banter with riya because that's my favorite nash besides when she's on her ship. anyways, i thought her a great character just without the complication of a romance like no thanks, we didn't need that. vrey nina-coded though.
ivan: very matthias-coded. wow i wonder which romance i didn't need i was talking about. yeah could've done without it but whatever we move on in life. he has the unique ability to design/create/make disguises and that includes masks, forgery, and literally stitching clothes. probably one of the coolest talents i've ever read about in a fantasy book. although, now that i'm writing this all i can think about is zoya and nina changing wylan's face. great another comparison! his secret is kinda boring so i'll just move on.
evelyn: really liked her too! another matthias-coded character but more literally. former captain who could have achieved greatness but had everything ripped away from her by someone who she now hates and is promised as reward for partaking in criminal activities. but she also finds out that not everything is so black and white and perhaps she's seeing the grey and finding that there is someone she can trust.
callum: kaz if he were clinically insane and not-kaz. ngl his last chapter at the end was probably the most interesting part of the book. he's just quite interesting with how far off the edge he is and what he's going to do. i like his love for his chandelier as well.
so overall, yeah almost identical to six of crows except for the fact that they're planning to betray each other. what IS a funny coincidence is that this book had a CALLUM and a TRISTAN and i so happened to read this book the same day my copy of The Atlas Complex arrived. likeee i was so bamboozled bc what are the oods??? anyways the plot was very convenient and sometimes shallow but i did enjoy parts of it. some of the jokes were really funny too and i appreciate it. (though they were six of crows flavored jokes). i will definitely be reading the sequel though.
no seriously i don't want to comb over all the similarities but everytime something happening i'd be like i know exactly what's going to happen next just because i've already read it in SOC. the supposed plot twists were great just because we were blatantly told about them so i felt really smart. yay!
one big difference here from SOC that i do like and enjoyed reading was that they're like the opposite of found family. in fact, they're all betraying each other. which is great! except for the fact that again all plot twists have been revealed so it's really just known plot/foreshadowing?
the worldbuilding would be nice if we had a map or a glossary and weren't just thrown headfirst into it with A LOT of details and names to remember. like i love being thrown into a world (e.g. The Bone Ships) but this was a bit much. it took me so long to parse out everything and even then i don't think i understood fully what all those fancy names/place were.
ryia: definitely my favorite character. she's so funny, loud, obnoxious, competent, the whole package really! as the saying goes, idk if i want to be her or be with her FR. she's the Butcher of Carrowick and she's very good at her job which is like spying and killing and just being generally terrifying. like if nina's and jesper's personality was merged with inej's abilities with kaz's conscience and main character syndrome. just like all of them she had a secret about her past which is coming back to haunt her. honestly i wish her all the best to succeed in her future endeavors.
tristan: loser. hope his day gets worse like actually. jokes aside, he was cut and paste WYLAN except such a loser version. wylan would never. yeah he also had a complicated past we're kinda told instead of it being a big reveal like why was it so obvious what his secret was. i just wish this was a little more unreliable narration like just because we're in their head doesn't mean they have to tell the reader every secret and detail. ik called him a loser but i really do understand his choice and i respect him for it, i just wish he wasn't so pathetic about it.
nash: empress of the three seas! who calls her that? who knows, certainly not nash. anyways, i love that what i got from her was that she was a great sailor (idk the term for someone good with ships lol) and that she would lie to the whole world and stay in a serpent den (literlly) to stay alive. i wish i could've gotten more of her banter with riya because that's my favorite nash besides when she's on her ship. anyways, i thought her a great character just without the complication of a romance like no thanks, we didn't need that. vrey nina-coded though.
ivan: very matthias-coded. wow i wonder which romance i didn't need i was talking about. yeah could've done without it but whatever we move on in life. he has the unique ability to design/create/make disguises and that includes masks, forgery, and literally stitching clothes. probably one of the coolest talents i've ever read about in a fantasy book. although, now that i'm writing this all i can think about is zoya and nina changing wylan's face. great another comparison! his secret is kinda boring so i'll just move on.
evelyn: really liked her too! another matthias-coded character but more literally. former captain who could have achieved greatness but had everything ripped away from her by someone who she now hates and is promised as reward for partaking in criminal activities. but she also finds out that not everything is so black and white and perhaps she's seeing the grey and finding that there is someone she can trust.
callum: kaz if he were clinically insane and not-kaz. ngl his last chapter at the end was probably the most interesting part of the book. he's just quite interesting with how far off the edge he is and what he's going to do. i like his love for his chandelier as well.
so overall, yeah almost identical to six of crows except for the fact that they're planning to betray each other. what IS a funny coincidence is that this book had a CALLUM and a TRISTAN and i so happened to read this book the same day my copy of The Atlas Complex arrived. likeee i was so bamboozled bc what are the oods??? anyways the plot was very convenient and sometimes shallow but i did enjoy parts of it. some of the jokes were really funny too and i appreciate it. (though they were six of crows flavored jokes). i will definitely be reading the sequel though.
forestgoblin's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Very similar to Six of Crows
noemi1010's review against another edition
3.0
A badass assassin woman? Sign me up. But I was left disappointed; I couldn't get into the story nor liking the characters although I had high expectations for the Butcher.
bravelydana's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
erinreadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I love a well-executed heist story and this one definitely delivered. A fun cast of thieves with varying motivations, many twists and turns, and sky-high stakes. I do wish we got to spend a little bit more time with each of the characters but the amount of action just didn’t allow for any breathing room, which was fine. I thoroughly enjoyed the story anyway.
Read if you like heists set in a low fantasy world.
Read if you like heists set in a low fantasy world.
wanderinglynn's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
2.75
This book centers on a group of thieves, who must work together. But each has their own motivations and secrets, and each plan to betray the others. An intriguing premise that sadly failed for me.
I think the first issue for me is that there's minimal world-building. We learn little about this world. There's five "countries" ruled by some kind of royalty system. The kingdoms seem largely knock-offs or mixes of various European cultures (Slavic, Scandinavian, German). Although there is also a country of "brown-skinned" people. The problem is that there's not enough description or detail to get a sense of this world, which becomes problematic as part of the plot depends on international politics. At some point in the history of this world, there were wars and the typical global tensions when one country wants to dominate another. And like any history, there is a legend of a great warrior or leader (or whatever Declan Day was supposed to have been) that didn't unify the countries, but created more of a cold war situation. Because at this point in this world, any tension between the various countries is held in check by the power of the Guildmaster.
We are given a bit more detail about the magic system. Apparently people are born with some sort of magical ability, but taken and enslaved by the Guildmaster right after birth. They tend to fall into one of two abilities—Sensers, some kind of smell magic, or Kinetics, a type of telekinesis. The magic is system is fairly basic and is used more as a form of slavery and a way to rule this world than real magic.
For all that the world is rather basic, the plot was intriguing and the writing compelling. And yet, I couldn't connect to the characters. This is a multiple POV story and each characters' backstory comes out throughout, although some backstories are revealed more than others. As the plot progresses, what we learn more of is each's motivation and secrets. More fleshing out of the characters might have helped bring a bit of depth that the story lacked. I felt the author spent too much time trying to figure out the heist and all the backstabbing and twists and didn't spend enough time on character development or world-building. As for the heist, well, I thought it was a bit of a let down. Again, it seemed to lack some depth and really just became a breaking and entering more than an <i>Ocean's Eleven</i>.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about Among Thieves. I'm not sure I liked this one enough to pick up book 2 even though this one ended on a big ole cliffhanger.
I think the first issue for me is that there's minimal world-building. We learn little about this world. There's five "countries" ruled by some kind of royalty system. The kingdoms seem largely knock-offs or mixes of various European cultures (Slavic, Scandinavian, German). Although there is also a country of "brown-skinned" people. The problem is that there's not enough description or detail to get a sense of this world, which becomes problematic as part of the plot depends on international politics. At some point in the history of this world, there were wars and the typical global tensions when one country wants to dominate another. And like any history, there is a legend of a great warrior or leader (or whatever Declan Day was supposed to have been) that didn't unify the countries, but created more of a cold war situation. Because at this point in this world, any tension between the various countries is held in check by the power of the Guildmaster.
We are given a bit more detail about the magic system. Apparently people are born with some sort of magical ability, but taken and enslaved by the Guildmaster right after birth. They tend to fall into one of two abilities—Sensers, some kind of smell magic, or Kinetics, a type of telekinesis. The magic is system is fairly basic and is used more as a form of slavery and a way to rule this world than real magic.
For all that the world is rather basic, the plot was intriguing and the writing compelling. And yet, I couldn't connect to the characters. This is a multiple POV story and each characters' backstory comes out throughout, although some backstories are revealed more than others. As the plot progresses, what we learn more of is each's motivation and secrets. More fleshing out of the characters might have helped bring a bit of depth that the story lacked. I felt the author spent too much time trying to figure out the heist and all the backstabbing and twists and didn't spend enough time on character development or world-building. As for the heist, well, I thought it was a bit of a let down. Again, it seemed to lack some depth and really just became a breaking and entering more than an <i>Ocean's Eleven</i>.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about Among Thieves. I'm not sure I liked this one enough to pick up book 2 even though this one ended on a big ole cliffhanger.
mcoenraad's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0