This book was definitely not the best fantasy I have ever read, but I still really enjoyed it. I found myself getting more and more into it the further I read. There wasn't really anything I didn't enjoy about this book, but it didn't blow me away either.

This book is told from 5 different perspectives and I never found myself getting confused about which perspective I was reading from, which was good. I really enjoyed reading from all the perspectives, but there wasn't any one perspective that stood out from the rest for me.

I really enjoyed the world. I liked that we got to see bits of all the different kingdoms, and I thought the world had some really cool aspects to it, like the stuff with the demons and their smoke.

I was enjoying the plot of this book right from the start, then about halfway through I started to get way more into it. It started to get really interesting, and by the end I found myself really wanting the next book right away.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the next one.

The Smoke Thieves was an good but not great read for me. It had some really good character moments but I was engrossed in the overall story.

This was really very good but frustrating at the same time. The story is told from several characters’ points of view and it is obvious that their paths will cross from fairly early on. But they don’t all meet up until the last part of the book. Also, it ends just as the story is coming together and leaves an eager reader hanging on for the next book! The characters in their book are well fleshed out. The take on demons was original. There is a lot of action especially towards the end. I really enjoyed what has been revealed of demon hunting, of King Aloysius’ motivation for war, and the character development particularly of Princess Catherine. We are left wondering whether Catherine will choose either of her two suitors. I liked the fact that not all of the characters we meet survive. The pacing was just a little slow in the middle. Very much enjoyed and recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

A princess, a traitor, a hunter and a thief. Four teenagers with the fate of the world in their hands. Four nations destined for conflict.

In Brigant, Princess Catherine prepares for a loveless political marriage arranged by her brutal and ambitious father. In Calidor, downtrodden servant March seeks revenge on the prince who betrayed his people. In Pitoria, feckless Edyon steals cheap baubles for cheaper thrills as he drifts from town to town. And in the barren northern territories, thirteen-year-old Tash is running for her life as she plays bait for the gruff demon hunter Gravell.

As alliances shift and shatter, and old certainties are overturned, our four heroes find their past lives transformed and their futures inextricably linked by the unpredictable tides of magic and war. Who will rise and who will fall? And who will claim the ultimate prize?

Thank you to Netgalley and Viking for the ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

They say fortune favours the brave. Having already tried Sally Green's Half Bad trilogy only to give up after book one, I wasn't entirely sure this would be a book for me. As far as I remember, her writing style is pretty told rather than shown, with lots of unnecessary passive language which makes it feel as though it's intended for an older middle grade audience, rather than YA as it is advertised.

When I opened the book and saw the first few pages, I was even more cautious. For the first 10-20% of the novel, I felt like I was crawling through honey to get to the next chapter. Although I liked Catherine's chapters, I wasn't sold on March or Tash, or even Ambrose, and I was keen to skip past them to get back to the one I enjoyed. And even then, the passive language made the snarky critic inside of me scream. There were so many lines which only needed a tweak to make them less passive and it really bugged me to keep reading them, especially because I know from querying and beta-reading that it is an absolute writing sin. 

Thankfully, after I waded through that first section, things improved. I'm not entirely certain that the passive told language went away, rather the interesting plot developments and characters masked the downfalls of The Smoke Thieves a little better. Catherine's sections were still my favourite, and I enjoyed reading scenes where her intelligent and courageous personality shone out, even as her father and brother tried to make her feel weak and useless. Catherine's Brigant is a very patriarchal country, where women are not seen as equal, and as much as that annoyed me, I liked seeing Catherine challenge these views and put people in their place. And she did it so elegantly too, always with grace and poise. She instantly became my favourite character. Especially considering her awful father and brother. They put her through a lot, use her as a bargaining chip against her will, and punish her for anything they consider an indiscretion, despite Catherine's initial promise to obey her father's word as law.

 March and Edyon grew on me too, if only because there were layers to their personalities. There's a lot of humour in their scenes that made me laugh, and the whole mystery surrounding their discovery of demon smoke properties kept me interested throughout the novel. Tash still didn't hold my curiosity, and her chapters were a bit difficult for me. I'm not sure why I didn't warm to her, but I just couldn't. I guess that happens sometimes.

It was great to see how these separate plots and characters eventually converged together, and the stakes are slowly but surely raised to scary heights, which pushed the pace of the book on enough. I was still disappointed with the passive writing style, since I thought the book deserved a bit more flair, and for that reason I've knocked a few stars off the rating I might have given it.

7/10 stars from me. I liked it a lot more than Green's Half Bad series, and I'll probably get the next book when it comes out, but the passive told rather than shown language grated on me a lot.

Oh wow. What a world. I love, love, love the effort that has gone into the world building, it really feels like epic high fantasy throughout. The story moves between four main characters, all of who I really liked, but it’s hard not to love Catherine struggling with the rigidity of life for women in Brigant, or Tash being a young and daring demon hunter! March took me a little while longer to connect to, but his relationship with Edyon is fab! Edyon is probably just about my least favourite, but I still really like him!

The geography of the world feels so real as well. I know that’s possibly an odd thing to comment on, but it does! I could picture bits, and I could feel the essence of each place. I think that takes real skill as a story teller.

I also love little details, especially around life in Pitoria! The dyed hair, the dancing (💙💙💙), the more relaxed way of life. I really enjoyed watching the story weave over itself too - the characters getting closer but not really knowing how they’d all meet and how things would be resolved. It felt like you knew what was going on but not what would happen next, which is a fine line to walk on! Excellently done.

I’m dying to know more about this world - what is the truth about Abask, what is the history of demons, what happens next???? Okay mostly the last one. And given this book isn’t out yet, how am I supposed to cope with the wait until the next one?!?! I just love the whole concept of the demon smoke and especially what we learn towards the end.

I am giving The Smoke Thieves 4.5 stars, and even then, I struggled not to give it 5. The only reason I didn’t is because it’s possibly a little slow. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, it does a great job of being a build up for something wider. I’m not sure how long the planned series is, but I hope very long lol!!

I am afraid this book was not for me.
The characters did not engage me and I did not enjoy the story line.

Fantastic book! In the beginning, I was a bit bothered by the constant switch between the lives of the different characters, most of whom were in different lands, but the writing was good, each person’s story was interesting, and eventually their path toward one another became clear. The author has done a fabulous job of giving life and personality to each of the main characters and to the world they inhabit. Halfway through the book, I could no longer put it down, and it’s now 4:30 AM as I write this review. While I’m not entirely sure that this would be a good book for teens, given the level of violence, I am certainly going to be waiting anxiously for the story to continue.

I have heard good things about Sally Green’s other books (The Half bad trilogy). Which I must confess I haven’t read yet, So, I was looking forward to reading this.
The Smoke thieves is a historical fantasy novel. Where the story tells of several different characters from different lands and they all seem to connect together by Demon smoke. There is also a war between these lands and their fight it to get hold of it. But in these lands Demon smoke is actually illegal.
This is a great start to un-putdown-able page turner, that will be a hit to any Sally Green fans and readers that enjoy medieval stories of wars and kings and queens. This was beautifully written and I liked the way the author described each person, from their customs to what they wore and how they dyed their hair. This story was very well thought out. The only thing that disappointed me about this book that it was has such an abrupt ending. What happened there??
Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an ARC of this book

I was so excited when I first heard about this book, mainly because I enjoyed Green's previous novel series, the Half Bad trilogy and I'm glad to say this book did not disappoint at all.
Sally Green just has a way with her writing style that just sucks me in right away, I devoured this book and already wish I had the second book in my hands this minute. I just loved the fantasy world that was created, I normally don't like the Game of Thrones style that most authors seem to recreate, although, given the popularity of that series, it's easy to see why despite the fact I'm not a fan of Game of Thrones, however, I thought Green made her fantasy world so unique that people should not be put off by this comparison to GOT. I absolutely loved the characters, I really liked the numerous characters and the fact I could keep track of all of them without getting myself confused about who was who. I strongly recommend this one.

I quite enjoyed Sally Green's previous titles; but this one didn't really engage me much. It felt quite predictable, sorry! I didn't dislike the people or plot, and it's nice to have intelligent female characters.... but it just didn't hold my attention.

A truly excellent imagining of a fantasy world in which five young people are brought together to prevent the machinations of a truly evil king and his son. The characters range from the daughter of the king, a thief and even a traitor. It is fascinating as their stories are brought together during their search for the "Demon Smoke" that the king is desperate to obtain. this is aimed at older teens and there is swearing and violence, but no s*x

However as with all fiction I am sure that it will be read by a younger audience, particularly those who are fans of series such as “Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings”.

I really enjoyed that! It took me some time to get used to all the names and the different locations but in the end it was nice to see all the different point of views. I also loved how the story of each character unfolds and fate brings everyone together.

I have to say that it reminded me a lot of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. It also had a thief, lots of politics between different countries and lots of POVs.

I can't wait for book no. 2 :)

Sally Green has done it again! The Smoke Thieves is set in an incredibly brutal world full of characters, history and a story that rivals even that of the Half Bad Universe. Cannot WAIT for the next book!

This is one of the books I acquired through Net Galley, and it is, quite frankly, a read it at your earliest convenience.
It's the first of what I believe will be a trilogy and concerns the intersecting lives and adventures of four teenagers. It is one of those books that you never want to put down, except there were a few points where I got kind of scared for the characters and had to stop. In my defence, I hadn't realised it was the first of a trilogy at first. If I had, I would have been less nervous!
I particularly liked that it had two rather wonderful female protagonists, both very different characters and definitely not the kind of standard cut out female characters you often find. The male protagonists were interesting characters as well. The four main characters are really four very different people and I love that. There were times where it was hard to remember they were teenagers, but then there were little moments periodically that reminded you.
I really cannot wait to read more, but I will have to be patient...

This one was really good, since it was an advanced copy the formatting errors were expected. Character wise I liked Tash and Ambrose from the start, Catherine grew on me, I changed my mind about March, but still don’t know what to think about Edyon. Got into the story right away, found it easy to follow. Love the plot and can’t wait until the next one.

I absolutely love Sally Green! The Half Bad trilogy was amazing, if you haven’t read that yet I definitely recommend it! The Smoke Thieves is the first book in Green’s new fantasy series.

Following 5 different teens, The Smoke Thieves has wonderfully balanced and intelligent characters, plenty of action, and a mystery to keep you guessing.

Catherine is a princess of Brigant, preparing for an arranged marriage organised by her father, the cruel ruler many fear. Ambrose, one of Catherine’s sworn guards, will do whatever it takes to protect his princess. March is a servant to the Prince of Calidor, seeking revenge after the vicious war between Brigant and Calidor destroyed his life and people. Edyon is a thief and steals small trinkets for fun as he travels around the country. And Tash, a young demon hunter, risks her life in order to capture highly illegal but coveted smoke from demons. When their paths cross and they find themselves linked by magic and war, who will prevail?

I was a bit nervous going into this because I loved the Half Bad trilogy so much, but it lived up to my expectations!

The Smoke Thieves is narrated by the five main characters, the chapters split up between them so you can see from all their points of view. This way of telling the story allows you to experience each of the characters thoughts and feelings and follow them on their individual journeys, as well as seeing the bigger picture. All of the characters had unique personalities and seeing their development throughout the course of the story is so interesting! They all grow as people and become more confident and sure in themselves, which is lovely to see. I enjoyed getting to know each character and seeing the story unfold through different eyes as all their paths cross and lives intertwine.

The world building was good, I liked the concept of demon smoke: obtained after a demon has been killed, it’s red/purple in colour but is illegal to buy or sell. However, the demon smoke is part of the mystery interwoven in this book, since it’s not all as it seems, and links the characters together in their attempts to uncover hidden secrets. I think there could have been more description of the settings the characters travel through, but this might just be personal preference because I love vivid imagery in books.

I adored the romances, and the ending was fantastic: what a cliffhanger! I’m excited for the next book to see where the story goes!

I’m giving this book 4 stars because even though I found some description to be missing, the plot was so engaging and the character development through the story was fantastic! This was a great fantasy novel and I have high hopes for the rest of the series!

The Smoke Thieves is the first part in a new Trilogy from Author Sally Green, Sally is most famous of the Half Bad series, a series that I haven't actually read yet but I can assure you after reading, The Smoke Thieves, it will be going straight up to to the top of my reading list. I was expecting this to be good but I didn't expect that it would the kind of good that meant I literally spent a whole Sunday afternoon with several cups of tea and a box of Celebrations reading this and needing to find out what would happen next. The story follows five characters, Catherine, Ambrose, Tash, Erydon and March - A princess, a traitor, a soldier, a hunter and a thief and tells the tale of how these five teenagers stories intertwine and interlink. Catherine, A princess destined to be married to a Prince from another land whom she's never met and knows very little about. Ambrose, Catherine's bodyguard and sworn defendant, but could there be more to that relationship? We have Tash, a thirteen year old Demon Hunter who trades in Demon Smoke. Erydon, a thief currently travelling with the fair but desperately trying to find out what his path is in life and finally, we have March, a soldier working for a King but with a troubled past that he's set on seeking revenge for.

All of these characters sucked me in, but I have to say that I really liked the female characters in this, Catherine and Tash, they're strong and smart and independent which is a joy to see, whilst we definitely have a bit of a love triangle brewing in the books for Catherine, our princess, it's not the sole focus of the character, her decisions aren't based on her heart rather she's more keen on being seen as a powerful and strong leader. Tash, who very much reminds of Arya from Game of Thrones, I think because she's a young feisty, independent character, that stands her ground but shows the frustrations of being a thirteen year old girl sometimes that's trying to get by in an adult world, The Smoke Thieves offers up some perfect role models for the younger generation. It's not just the female characters either, the male characters in this book are also as interesting as our female characters. There's lots of focus on family relationships within the book, both positive and negative alongside friendship and even a hint of LGBTQ relationship that I am guessing will be further developed in the follow up books.

The story is written in sequence but jumping from character to character as it progresses which makes for a really enjoyable read,I sometimes find when books are written like this, that it can be confusing but Sally has perfectly told the story so that the book as a whole flows. As I said, there's definitely romance brewing in this book in several different aspects but it's not the focal point, it's more character and story driven and links into friendship, family and politics. I'm very much hoping the Demon element will be further developed in books two and three also as I love the mystical element that this adds.

The Smoke Thieves introduces us to a whole new world of heroes and heroines, demons and dastardly dealings with a light touch and wit and at a fast-moving pace.
The map of this world comes in very handy at the beginning to place everything and the whip smart dialogue will appeal to anyone who likes their stories to get a move on although the narrative never felt rushed.
Catherine is the central figure around which everything ends up revolving, and yes, she is a princess, but not a normal, run-of-the-mill princess. In fact, she reminded me at times of Buttercup in that perfect fantasy 'The Princess Bride', a little. Feisty, intuitive and thanks to her mother, not content to settle for a passive life, she deals with everything the novel throws at her but Sally Green ensures she remains human, with weaknesses and emotional complexities too.
It is a book that very much ends on a 'to be continued' note and as the reader, you very much want to continue reading what's next for characters you have come to believe in and care about.

Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. I found the characters a little superficially written and there were times that I doubted the characters' age; they just seemed to act older then their age. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters and found the romance elements to be frustrating. The two characters supposed to be in love barely know each other and I just couldn't get behind it. The pacing between the multiple perspective was a little jarring, which meant that I felt even more disconnected from the story and characters. This also meant that the plot didn't flow for me and there were times it dragged. Unfortunately the world building was also lacking. Nothing about the world was distinct for me, which is a shame because it had potential. Having said all that, I think a lot of people will like this book. It didn't work for me but if you're interested in the plot I would still recommend checking it out.

This is the first book in a new fantasy series, and I enjoyed reading it.

The characters are well drawn and we get to know them as their various strands weave together through the book.

The contrasts and customs of each country are well described, and I love the way different factions dye their hair to show their allegiances.

I liked the way we are not told the full details of the demons, but are left in suspense and waiting for the next book - as it should be!

The prose is nicely descriptive - however I deplore the use of the F* word, which doesn't seem to go with the medieval-fantasy setting for this book; I feel that the author should invent some suitable curse words of her own to go with the various countries, and use those instead which would add to the authenticity.

All in all an enjoyable read, and I will look forward to the next in the series.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.