I received with thanks an ARC copy of The Smoke Thieves (The Smoke Thieves #1) from Penguin Random House UK & Netgalley.

This is my true and honest review of The Smoke Thieves (The Smokes Thieves #1) by Sally Green. This is due to be published on 3rd May 2018

This is the first book I have read from this author. After reading this I am sure I will give the Half Bad Series a try. This is a high fantasy book told from many points of view. These characters are interlinked with each other in different ways. The characters are likeable and made me want to learn more about them. The story does give you Game of Throne vibes but in a good way. This is book 1 and will defiantly be carrying on with new series. This kept me on my toes all the time reading it and would highly recommend giving this a try when its released.

Great book for fantasy lovers and multiple POV’s and high fantasy.

Earlier this year I finally read Half Bad, and while I wasn’t quite so taken with that book I still wanted to give this one a go. This sounded so much more up my alley than her previous series. Unfortunately this is a typical mediocre young adult fantasy.

The Smoke Thieves is Sally Green’s adventure into an epic high fantasy. Unlike Half Bad this book is written in five third person point of views, alternating each chapter that tell three separate story lines that find each other in the end. While the synopsis talks about 4 characters we get 5 point of views which I found a little odd. The ones talked about in the synopsis are Edyon, March, Catherine and Tash. And jumping along for the ride is Catherine’s body guard Ambrose, because you guessed it, love interest.

The thing with The Smoke Thieves is that it doesn’t stand out. There is very little that is surprising about this book from the princess that gets shipped away to marry to the thief who turns out to be a prince to the reason why the war started. I’ve read a lot of fantasy. I read it 98% of the time. I could guess everything happening.
I could have forgiven that if the writing and characters had been stellar but unfortunately for me that was not the case either. The writing is dry in places. Too much tell and no show. The pacing is off and some short chapters felt like fillers added in just so that character got their usual chapter in the format of alternating between the characters. I also have absolutely little idea of what Brigant is really like and it felt as if we got not nearly enough of what Pitoria is like because we spend most of the time in the forest or on plateaus. There were attempts at getting to see the people with Catherine but even those felt half hearted.

The characters are okay. I took a straight liking to Tasha. As a 13 year old with a very cutting and straight forward personality, she stands out from the others. But unfortunately in the role that she gets she doesn’t get to shine at all and I genuinely wonder what her importance is to the story. And it is a shame because I think if she had been more of a focus we could have gotten a very vibrant story.

As for the others they are okay but just do not stand out. There is so little there to hook me. I could like Edyon, March and Tsazyn. I see smidges of characters I could genuinely like, but I’m not getting everything with them. Just a portion, not the whole character. Or that is what it feels like to me. As the story progressed that got a little better.

I think from where the story left us, in the middle of a war, there is a chance for this story to take a leap forward because the idea of the smoke, the smoke thieves and the demons is an interesting one. It just did not come forward well enough in this book. And I’m just not sure I am interested enough to want to read it.

I received an advance copy of The Smoke
Thieves by Sally Green from Net galley in return for an honest review. This book will be published on 3 May 2018 by Penguin Random House.

This book is the first in a new Young Adult, fantasy series. Those who are fans of the Half Bad series will surely enjoy this book.

The book is set in a fantasy land the main locations being Brigant, Calidor and Pitoria.

5main characters take turns in telling their story. A princess - Catherine of Brigant forced to learn the lesson on the fate of a traitor by watching the sister of her bodyguard be executed. Prior to the execution a sign is communicated to Catherine which she subsequently tries to decipher. The soldier and bodyguard of Princess Catherine, is anguished at the execution of his sister. When his honour is questioned in regard to his relationship with the princess he defends himself then flees. He seeks to discover the truth about his sister. March (the traitor)is a servant of the King of Calidor however is unhappy at the lack of help the King gave his people. He seeks revenge by travelling to locate the illegitimate son of the king and hand him to the King of Brigant. Edyon is the thief and the illegitimate son of the King of Calidor. He steals some demon smoke and ends up on the run when he is caught with it. March aides his escape and tells him he will take him to his father. Tash and Gravell are demon hunters who take the illegal smoke from demons and sell it. When a bottle is stolen from them they set out to retrieve it.

The 5 character POV is well written in my opinion. Each of the individuals had stories that were intriguing in their own right. The way in which these stories converged resulted in my opinion in an interesting conclusion to book 1.

I would say that Tash was my favourite character she comes across as strong, feisty and opinionated. I also liked Catherine as she is also a strong character despite her challenging family background. She strives to be better morally than her family.

Character and plot development was good however with the first book in a series there are always threads and questions left unanswered. This is the downside of receiving an advanced copy as there is even longer to wait to get answers.

Depending on how the second book develops I would love to see a POV from Prince Tsayn who struck me as humorous / sarcastic but kind and well measured. Also Prince Boris who came across as arrogant, self righteous and a bit of a (trying not to say a bad word) bully.

I really enjoyed this book and have given it 4 stars as there is the wait to resolve the unanswered questions. I would recommend this book for readers of fantasy.

At the time of writing due to the book not having been released I have reviewed on goodreads however I have been unable to review on other sites. This review will be put up when it is possible to do so.

#NetGalley
#SmokeThieves

The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green is a new fantasy series that revolves around the lives of five people. A princess, a soldier, a traitor, a thief, and a demon hunter. These people dwell in different parts of this fictional world. They have their own paths and problem before destiny brings them all together to save the world from a cruel king and his mad plans.

“War is often seen as the end, but often it is a new beginning.”

What I liked about the book:

The Premise. Demon Smoke is kind of a drug inhaled for pleasure. It’s acquisition and possession is illegal. But it also has properties that can lead thousands on the path of destruction to acquire it.

The world building is lovely. I fell in love with the land of Pitoria and its culture. I wish there is more of Illast in the next books. Reference to this exotic land where women are free and independent has me intrigued.

“People dismiss, belittle or ignore women. But when I represent my country I am not a woman: I am a land and a people and a queen” – Queen Valeria of Illast

There are a lot of characters in the book to start with. But the narrative steadily removes the unwanted characters and brings the rest of them closer towards one destination and one goal.

Characters. All the characters have their own point of view. We get to know each one intimately as they trudge through their lives, facing their own challenges, and end up together. My favorite characters are Catherine and Tash.
Catherine is a princess who has always lived an oppressed and dependent life. But once in Pitoria, she grows and develops into a loved queen-to-be with her wit, charm, and courage.
Tash is a fierce young girl who knows no fear. Her character is a contrast of innocence and crime. I loved her loyalty to Gravel. She does not forget to care about him even when she is struggling for her own life.

I liked the steadily growing romance between March and Edyon. Even though Edyon is frivolous and soft, he cares about March deeply. It will be interesting to see where their relationship grows given that March is reluctant to admit his feelings and that one of them is a prince.

Action packed scenes is another part I enjoyed reading.

What I feel was lacking:

I found the progress of the story slow. At the end of this first book, we only know the background of various people involved and how they ended up together.

To make the multiple narratives seamless, a lot of information is repeated. This made the story verbose.

Recommendations:

It was an enjoyable read, though a little slow. But I think it is a promising series that can get readers hooked.

I received a free ARC of the book. Many thanks to Netgalley and the Penguin Random House for the opportunity.

The Young Adult Fantasy market is becoming a tough sell as it is reaching saturation point with a number of clichés. This book hasn’t fallen into that trap. The story is told from a number of povs, each of them interesting in their own right. Though there is a stock boy/girl romance with hints of a triangle to come, this really isn’t the main focus of the story.

A twelve year old girl and her master are illegally killing demons for their smoke/blood. A seventeen year old princess is leaving the care of brutal father and brother for an arranged marriage. A royal guard investigates the circumstances of his sisters execution. A sixteen year old survivor of a genocide seeks vengeance on the king who saved him but failed to save his people. A nineteen year old fatherless kleptomaniac finds out he has a bright future, maybe.

The stories of all these characters run parallel for quite a while which at times felt like hard work and a bit too drawn out. However, I felt a growing excitement as the storylines began to converge. I’m not sure where this story is heading but I want to find out.

If you love multiple viewpoints and strong fantasy worlds, you should enjoy this one.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish this book before the expiry date. However, based on what I managed to read, I will be buying it for my library. A fantasy set in a medieval type world with three kingdoms jostling each other for dominance, it's definitely for young adults due to language and violence. It had the beginnings of an exciting story with love interest and the political maneuverings of those in power. There were a good number of characters all well drawn and believable. I have to reserve the 5th star for a future date when I hope to read to the end.

An absolutely brilliant read. The kind of book which you can't wait to finish yet don't want to end. A fresh new fantasy, with intrigue aplenty. Well drawn characters who are easy to love or hate. I couldn't put this down.

I absolutely LOVED this book.

The book starts with 1 of our 5 main characters, Tash and her companion Gravell, setting a trap for a demon. I loved this opening chapter, it really gives a lot of insight quite quickly into who Tash is and what she does, as well as doing a great job of building the world that we're entering into.

Each of the characters' opening scenes works really well and what I love most about this book is how each characters' journey progresses until they all intertwine.

This book is very immersive, I didn't want to put it down once I'd started reading. Each character faces unique challenges and struggles on their respective journeys and I couldn't get enough. I love that the characters are diverse, I think the villain(s) are really strong, hate-able characters which drive the story really well and there's plenty of intrigue with a potential love triangle and 'forbidden' love brewing that I'm really looking forward to seeing more of.

I loved this book. The author fulfilled her promise of a strong, intelligent heroine and also delivered more in the way of the other characters who I really can't get enough of, alongside the fantastic, magical plot.

I do also have to mention Gravell, who I loved, and who almost made me cry.

Highly recommended for fans of Six of Crows, Children of Blood and Bone, Harry Potter etc

4.5 stars for this brilliant YA fantasy.

Fantasy books are the key to my heart – especially those that drip in detail and a back story that makes me feel like I am actually there. The Smoke Thieves was fortunately one of those books that won my heart and I can only describe it as a whirlwind of adventure.

The pace of the story did start slowly for me and I put this down to the extensive world building and the introduction of many different characters. Once I got to grips with who-was-who the pace began to pick up and I found myself engrossed.

I tend to worry when I read a book that has several character POV’s. Game of Thrones is a perfect example of this. Don’t get me wrong I love this series but it is so easy to get lost and come out feeling mega confused. The author manages to make the five different POV’s flow seamlessly into one another without causing any confusion.

Naturally there will always be preference over which character chapters you enjoy and look forward to the most, for me it was Tash and Catherine. Don’t get me wrong, the other three were still just as well written and their sub plots were just as interesting but I love reading from the perspective of strong women.

The differences between the two are obvious, Catherine is a princess who has had a very sheltered life whereas Tash was sold by her parents to a man called Gravell and is now a ‘demon hunter’. Regardless of their social status they do share one thing in common – they are strong outspoken women.

Tash thankfully gets on well with Gravell, he doesn’t abuse or neglect her – so I can assume that they consider each other family, though she is never afraid to voice her opinion or stand up to him when she feels fit. Catherine has a slightly different and worse situation. Her father and brother cannot stand the sight of her and she is treated awfully – like all woman in Brigant. It was as interesting to read how the author explores the treatment of women in this part of her world, most of the time I was incredibly angry but proud of how Catherine always remained calm.

I praise Sally for her use of diversity, we have POC as well as LGBT romance that brews (fingers crossed we’ll see more of this growing relationship in the next book!).

There is another romance in the story which is so obvious it hurts. I won’t spoil too much of it, so you can judge it for yourself.

My negatives were the ending of the book and the pace which I mentioned previously. For me the last few chapters felt rushed as a means to wrap up the story – I know I am being slightly picky but hey ho. I’m super eager for the next book because I’m in desperate need to know what happens next!

Read this book. I can’t stress how much you will fall in love with The Smoke Thieves.
4/5

I really enjoyed the parallel storylines, but definitely rooted for some characters over others! I was THERE for the LGBTQ+ rep and I loved their growth. It was cute, flirtatious and relatably awkward - a highlight of the book. I thought that in general the characters were pretty well rounded and the court of Brigant was awesome and twisted. I read it in one sitting!

Although this book was quite difficult to get into, I liked it. It is about five different characters with very different stories, some of which know each other.

I liked how you found out about all of the characters’ backstories as I thought it was very creative. I think my favourite character is Tash because she is extremely brave and has an interesting life.

Some parts of the book were quite gruesome, so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is a bit squeamish. It is a different book to what I have previously read and I would rate it 3 out of 5 stars; even though I enjoyed parts of it, some parts were hard to follow and I felt irrelevant to the story.

Review by Joanna aged 12

I didn't manage to write a full review of this one, mostly because I finished it at 2am despite being completely exhausted. That it itself suggests I enjoyed it -- I definitely felt engaged with the storyline and found the worldbuilding interesting. I was disappointed to realise it wasn't a standalone, though, as the ending was rather a cliffhanger and didn't quite have the resolution I was hoping for. What I didn't like was the writing style, which surprised me, as I've enjoyed Sally Green's books in the past. It felt clumsy and kind of unpolished, and that stopped me from getting into the book as much as I'd have liked.

Real rating: 2.5*s. Come on, NetGalley, it wouldn't be that hard to let us do half-stars...

I was luckily enough to be gifted an arc of this by netgalley and the publisher and to them, I would thank. The smoke thieves follows four teenagers who must save the world. Sounds like every other YA book doesn’t it? I will say you are wrong on that one my friend. As you get further and further into the book you realise that you are more divulged from any other YA book you have read before. But anyway, this book follows Princess Catharine who is having an arranged marriage for political reasons, March, who is a servant who wants revenge for his people, Edyon, a petty thief who steals just for the fun of it and Thirteen year old Tash who is running for her life. All of these povs come together and make an irresistible story that is told. I have loved Sally Green’s writing since I met her at YALC when I first got her to sign my edition of Half Bad so I could not wait to read this book. It definitely gave me Game of Thrones vibes. Overall, an interesting read.

4 out 5 stars.

I read other books by sally green and really enjoyed them so I knew I had to read her latest book and I'm so glad I did. In this book we follow several characters and switch perspective which included Tash, Catherine, March and Edyon. It took me a little while to get into the book and with so many perspectives it can be a little slow but overall I highly recommend reading it as when I got into the story I couldn't stop reading it.

Four key characters, and we switch perspectives so it can seem slow on occasion. However, the story puts in place a promising idea for the next part in the series.
We are introduced in turn to Tash (a young demon-hunter who risks her life every time she goes out), princess Catherine (a young girl forced to marry someone she’s never met), March (a servant who is determined to avenge the suffering of his people) and the bastard son of the prince, Edyon (a common thief).
It takes some time for us to work out what’s going on, and the crux of the story isn’t revealed until very near the end so it could leave some readers a little disappointed. I felt it took time to establish the voices of the different characters, and the mix of viewpoints inevitably left me feeling they weren’t as fleshed out as I’d have liked.
That said, the world is reasonably presented and there is plenty here to get your attention. The rather obvious love triangle seems unnecessary - I’d hope Catherine will come into her own as the series continues - and I remain unconvinced by the attempts to depict a relationship that is not heterosexual. However, the premise of the story and some of the secondary characters more than make up for the areas that don’t seem so successful.
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication.

This is a triumph of YA fiction - I read it myself and then read it again with my daughter as I knew she would love it. There is a great balance of teenage angst and mystery and it has a very exciting tension the whole way through. Well written and very enjoyable.

Characters
With five protagonists, you’ll be hard pushed to not find one you are drawn to. If you’re like me, you’ll love them all but I couldn’t leave the review without talking about Princess Catherine. She is the daughter of the Brigant King who is marrying her off to improve relations with a neighbouring land.
Catherine is a powerful, headstrong and intelligent character. She’s everything you want from a character in a male dominated world, attempting to make changes in the society in which she lives. It’s scary how relevant her characterisation is and how much of a role model she will be to people who read the book.
In contrast, you have Tash. She is the youngest of the five but is perhaps the strongest and world weary of them all. She knows her place but won’t let anyone get the better of her if she can help it. While you will want to protect her, she can hold her own and you’ll love her all the more for it.
Plot
There have already been many comparisons of the Smoke Thieves to Game of Thrones, and for good reason. The plot focuses upon five characters that have individual narratives with some overlap. It’s almost as if each one has a piece of a puzzle.
The plot begs you to question motives, actions and outcomes as it gains momentum and almost reaches its endgame. However, as you reach the end of the book you’ll be begging for more; some questions have been left unanswered while there is a conclusion that will leave everyone satisfied.
Writing
Sally Green’s writing is engaging, emotionally driven and perfect for this kind of storytelling. You don’t get lost in her words, but her world. While the book contains a glossary for places and such that are introduced in this book, but you won’t find yourself back and forth between the narrative and the descriptions.

“She thought of Ambrose still, every day”


Every paragraph, it felt like.

I'm really disappointed with The Smoke Thieves. I was hoping this would be an opportunity to rekindle my love for Green's books after Half Bad's sequels dampened it. Unfortunately, this is an overlong, generic fantasy story that is spread too thin across its five perspectives.

This book is being sold as a Game of Thrones for younger readers, or those looking for something more easy-to-digest than Martin's monstrous 1000-page volumes. But if that's what you're looking for, Rhodes's Falling Kingdoms series is much more palatable and manages its multiple POVs far more effectively.

The Smoke Thieves paints in some wishy washy Medieval-style world-building, in which conflicts exist between the vaguely-imagined lands of Calidor, Pitoria and Brigant (map included). Past invasions and wars have fuelled tensions between them leading to the current delicate peace period. Women here are largely viewed as second-class citizens and are expected to be subservient to men.

Into this come our five protagonists. The Calidorian princess, Catherine, is betrothed to Prince Tzsayn of Pitoria, but has some not-so-secret lusty feelings for her bodyguard, Ambrose. March is a servant to the prince and he comes from Abask - a small area of land that was destroyed in the war between Calidor and Brigant - and he longs for revenge. Edyon is a thief whom March is searching for, but they end up falling for each other instead. And Tash is a thirteen year-old demon hunter.

It was really difficult to settle into the perspective of any of the characters with the constant switching between them. The book was spread so thin across them all that I found myself never really connecting with anyone. Five perspectives is often a bit much in the hands of an author who handles them well; when not handled well, it is just plain bad.

There was also very little depth, intrigue or tension. Everything is black and white, with the villains - King Aloysius and Boris - being cartoonishly evil. Sometimes there was literally no reason at all for them to act the way they did. Many of the violent scenes felt gratuitous.

Both romances left something to be desired. Catherine and Ambrose are daydreaming about each other from the start of the book. There's absolutely zero chemistry or tension between them, no will they/won't they, and their "love" for one another seems to stem from nothing more than physical attraction. There's also something of a love triangle going on.

March was one of the least interesting characters, so his romance with Edyon failed to touch me either. I'm also concerned after reading the Half Bad series that (view spoiler)

Then there's the fact that, for most of the book, the demon aspect and the "smoke" actually have very little bearing on anything. I'm assuming this will be developed in future installments, but it seems strange that the whole premise of the book doesn't play a bigger part.

It was just a boring and unexciting book, overall. I was unmoved by the characters and plot, and it didn't seem to do anything new or particularly engaging. The use of "fuck" in the Medieval-style setting felt jarring, too. I have no desire to read on, even though the book's abrupt non-ending tries to demand it.

This book was great in part because it pulled out all the elements of books I have recently loved but doesn’t have the things I didn’t like. Ok fine that made no sense. But let me give you an example. I’ve read many a terrible epic fantasy novel in which a female character must win over a nation through her smarts and how she presents herself. In those books, I get quickly bored with how many annoying conversations must be had around the topic. In this book, not only is Catherine a wonderful character who is being incredibly wise, but there is also so much else going on that you don’t get bored of her storyline.

This book is multiple POV and at first, I was a little concerned that there were too many characters to keep track of. However, there are only about three storylines going on at the same time, and instead of getting pulled miles away from each other, you’re given different points of view in the same situations. I thought this was a great way to build in more character development and to help the reader to see how characters were reacting to certain situations.

The pacing of this book is arguably a little slow. It has the feel of the first novel in an epic fantasy series, in that it takes a long time to set all the pieces in play only to really start the action near the end of the book. If you’re looking for a book that will satisfy your fantasy itch at a moment’s notice, this may not be the book for that situation. However, it has made me excited to read later books in this series as and when they come out.

There wasn’t as much magic in this book as I was expecting, it’s much more a book about individuals and the way small (arguably insignificant in some cases) people can shape the events of a world. The demon smoke element is more of a catalyst that brings these characters together at various points. It did seem as though this could be used more in later novels so those who crave a more ‘fantastical’ setting should not despair!

This was the first time I’ve ever read a Sally Green book but I think her writing was excellent. The different voices of the many characters were all clearly defined and there was just the right balance between action and dialogue. My favourite characters were the two female POVs (Quelle surprise!) Tash and Catherine who were incredibly different but both entirely relatable.

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oh I loved this so much! Since Half Bad i've loved Sally Green and this didn't disappoint and i'm desperate for the next!