Thank you so much to Brian Dungan and Little Tiger for giving me a copy in exchange of a review

Unfortunately, I think this book felt too middle-grade for me.

The plot is interesting but maybe a bit cliche (?)/predictable. And I don't think I was too fond of Alex (the Main Character). It is very fast-paced, however, I believe the way it was written (to make it fast-paced) isn't my favourite (not sure if this makes sense and it is definitely a personal choice and not a dig at the author or in any way meant to discredit his writing, but I am not a fan of fast-paced in the way small quick sentences as in 'action. action. action.' versus some more detailed sentences)

2.5 stars for me

In case those in the publishing industry worry that comps are a bad method of selling books, this already had me at the LOCKWOOD & CO. comparison.

Fourteen-year-old Alex Wintour is already a seasoned member of London’s criminal underworld - aided by her strange ability to see glimpses of the future. However, when a robbery goes wrong and even the ability to look ahead in time doesn’t help, it’s an encounter with teen millionare Colman Reece which saves Alex’s skin. Like Alex, Colman is a Temporal - someone who can manipulate the flow of time - and he has a bone to pick with the mysterious Temple, which governs Temporal society. A hunt for a mysterious weapon begins: but how useful is an ability to manipulate time when everyone else can do it too?

Part sci-fi, part dystopia, part heist novel, WINTOUR’S GAME begins with a bang and keeps up the pace for its entire run. The paperback edition - using the Netgalley typeset proof as a basis for this judgement - runs to just over 200 pages (I haven’t yet seen a copy of it out in the wild, so to speak, but I imagine it’s a slim volume on most bookshop shelves), and there’s a hell of a lot to pack into it. However, there’s a real demand for shorter YA in the market at the moment - even some contemporary YAs can sometimes reach over 400 pages, which is a real marathon for some readers, and a frequent discussion among librarians and educators online concerns how teen readers often borrow shorter books and graphic novels in greater numbers - so this is a factor that really works in its favour. Protagonist Alex is also noticeably younger than many YA protagonists of novels published recently, which is another real selling point for the book: while seventeen and eighteen-year-olds often dominate books with speculative elements, Alex is fourteen, and it’s really refreshing to read a YA with a protagonist at the lower-end of the age category’s target audience. In this regard, WINTOUR’S GAME stands out within the wider market before the reader finishes the first chapter.

As far as protagonists go, Alex is a really fun one to read from the moment she commits her first on-page burglary. Sometimes characters in YA have a habit of reading much older than they are, but there’s no issue in reading Alex as a fourteen-year-old, and she manages to be both fun and authentic without either of these attributes outbalancing the other: she’s witty, a bit prickly, full of snark, and still has elements of teenage insecurity when events go a bit south. Her habit of deliberately driving people up the wall is also particularly fun to read (despite how irritating I imagine the real-world version would be), and it’s repeatedly satisfying to read her verbal cut-downs of numerous sinister or downright creepy villains. It’s always great to have some lovable rogues to experience a narrative with (after all, SIX OF CROWS hasn’t been enduringly popular out of sheer luck), and it’s a relief to see Alex join this gang of literary ruffians (which I say as affectionately as possible).

The action and pacing of the novel can only really be described as ‘breakneck’. From the opening pages, we fall straight into an action-heavy, cinematic narrative, and it rarely, if ever, lets up; this isn’t the novel for breathing space or leisurely contemplation! A particularly interesting contextual detail concerns the author’s experience in television camera-work, and this is something which really makes itself apparent in the writing. Tangible and vivid, the action speeds along and is constructed in such a way that we can almost see these camera angles switching, which creates a really interesting method of storytelling. However, sometimes the plot jets along so fast that it’s hard to keep up - Alex often gives the impression that she’s liable to leave the reader behind if they don’t tether themselves to her quick enough (more on that in a minute) - and sometimes it’s necessary to reread sections to glean precise details of what exactly is happening. However, going back to my previous point about YA page-count, I imagine this is a useful hooking mechanism for reluctant readers, and readers (particularly boys) who find action a motivating factor behind engaging with a book: quite literally, you blink and we’ve moved somewhere else - in both location and time.

Sci-fi often forks in two distinct ways - the first is the very theory and jargon-heavy version, where the intricacies of the world take real priority, while the second introduces us to some new words and lets us engage with the characters as a priority. In terms of WINTOUR’S GAME, we’re given the second variety. We do get some sci-fi jargon as Alex is introduced to the Temporal world (as we are, by extension), but it’s kept at a noticeable minimum to be accessible and to not bog down the jet-fuelled narrative pace we’re introduced to early on. However, due to the short run-time (likely the wrong term, but it fits the film and TV lexical theme, so I’m keeping it), it does sometimes feel like we fly through these definitions, without them being left to sit so we can absorb them - as we discover precisely what Cole means by a Chronolith, we’re already planning how to steal it. The most effective concept we’re introduced to is that of the temporal tether, a device or object which emits a steady rhythm in order to allow a Temporal to know where precisely in the flow of time they currently exist within (especially useful for Alex, an oracle whose abilities extend to viewing scenes from the future). It’s really nicely woven into the narrative, and over the course of the 220 pages we get to see both its strengths and weaknesses: how I do love when authors demonstrate the limits of power in their worldbuilding! Speaking of worldbuilding, the settings are rendered really nicely - again with the camera theme, which means the narration is very clear with precisely how we view these settings, and so consequently guides our gaze - from the run-down theatre which hosts the central gang of thieves, the sleek and sinister Temporal Temple, to Cole’s expensive, AI-powered penthouse.

In many ways, WINTOUR’S GAME reads like a screenplay. Much of the focus is on concrete events and how we switch between them, with the addition of plenty of uniquely typeset onomatopoeias (how’s that for a high-scoring Scrabble word?) which benefits this very cinematic approach to action: however, this sometimes means that we don’t get as much character interiority as I would have liked, and sometimes means that some characters are viewed almost through a remove. We don’t quite get to engage with Cole, teen prodigy Henry, or Temporal mentor Murray, in the same way as we do Alex - though Henry gets a nice little arc of increasing confidence in the final third. As befitting the first book in a series, however, there’s still plenty of mysteries for the rest of the trilogy, such as the finer details of Alex’s origin, or what’s really happened to Cole’s parents, which is a nice choice not merely from a cliffhanger perspective: it also makes the Temporal world seem increasingly bigger in terms of worldbuilding - Alex has as much to learn as we do - and gives it a sense of nuance. While later twists may be easy to decipher for more seasoned readers, they’re pretty nicely signposted, so this is more a case of anticipation than outright mystery.

Quick and commercial, WINTOUR’S GAME is a dynamic start to a younger YA trilogy which balances accessibility and action in an equally commercially-accessible London. Despite the speed at which we move along and finer details which are ironed out for the sake of narrative streamlining, it’s a book which fits numerous demands of current YA readers, especially boys who may find that the current market highlights the literary needs of teen girls, and those who want shorter, tangible texts to engage with. It’s one which I can imagine taking up places in school libraries throughout the UK and Ireland, not to mention in the minds of teens determined to decipher which form of Temporal they’d be. As for me, I’m still deciding.

*WINTOUR’S GAME was published by Little Tiger on the 1st August: remember to support your brick-and-mortar bookshops, particularly indies! Thank you to Little Tiger for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I love heist novels and I am pleased to say Wintour’s Game ticked all my boxes. The writing is superb and fast paced. Personally I didn’t find it lost any plot due to the pace, something that can happen in novels (particularly YA). The characters are fantastic, I loved Alex so much. Cole was fun to read about as well and I loved the dynamic of the two.

I really enjoyed the world, or rather secret side of the world were some have the ability to alter and stop time and of course the gadgets. What is a heist novel without gadgets? This was really fun to read and I think part of this is thanks to the characters while the other is the writing and pacing. Alex was a brilliant protagonist who is witty and sharp. I really liked she stood up for herself.

I will definitely be recommending and hope we get more novels in the future set in this world and with Alex. I would definitely read them. Thank you to Netgalley and Little Tiger Group for the e-ARC. My review is completely honest and left voluntarily.

Thank you for this eARC!

A teenage thief and oracle is roped into a scheme to steal a mysterious weapon from a sinister sect of time-magicians.

This book was fast-paced from the first page, and didn’t stop until the last!

Alex’s character was established clearly very early on, and once Cole was introduced, their banter was perfectly judged. I liked the side characters, especially Murray, though I feel there could have been more development for some.

I did struggle at points to follow the plot, which is unusual when I read this age group. I think the slight issue was there were lots of proper nouns (Acolyte, Gates, Chronolith), and a lot of uncertainty in the plot— the characters are trying to steal something but they’re not 100% sure what it is, while avoiding someone whose identity they don’t know, whilst Alex specifically is pursued for reasons unclear to her. I still mostly bought into it, and the pace of the book propelled me through, but in general I prefer books with a little more clarity. I also understand that this was all necessary for the big reveal at the end, and it was a cool reveal—but I wanted to feel a bit less lost before we got to that point.

The action scenes were a highlight of the book for me, and there was a really cinematic feel overall. My favourite thing about Wintour’s Game was that made me very nostalgic for the books I grew up reading—Alex Rider, Artemis Fowl, etc. True Lower YA is something of a rarity nowadays and it was super refreshing to read. More like this!

I have very mixed feelings about this one. The writing is done incredibly well. But it is about robbery. I am not too sure about using it in lessons.

After a robbery gone wrong, 14 year old reputable thief Alex Wintour is saved by Cole, a cocky teenager in a pimped-out Porsche who promises to change her life.
It turns out she’s part of a secret world where people known as Temporals have the ability to manipulate time. Alex can see the future in flashes - projections.
Cole enlists her help to steal something from the authoritative and controlling Temple.

This reminded me a lot of Artemis Fowl.
A secret world. Gadgets and tech and high speed chases.
A ‘personal responsible adult’ who accompanies Cole to allow him to carry out all his nefarious plans.

Alex is extremely funny. She’s witty, sharp, and untrusting with a past that seems dark and lonely.

“Ms Wintour," said Lynch almost sympathetically, "you seem to be labouring under the illusion that this is some sort of game. And perhaps it is. But I assure you it's not the one you think you are playing. It would be in your interest to take what I have to say very seriously."
“Well, it's hard to take you seriously dressed as a bible salesman, but I'll try."

With a concept such as time, there is the possibility of falling into self-made traps. If you can see the future, control time, etc, there must be clearly established rules and barriers which can be hard to satisfyingly accomplish in such a short book meant for younger readers. However, I found this was handled fairly well!

There were a few discrepancies - a working phone after falling into a river, suddenly incredibly powered and able to fight off trained grown adults etc…
However, with a YA meaning slightly on the younger side, this is mostly to be expected.

Packed action sequences, snarky comments, twists, revelations, and a mean cliffhanger, this is an author to keep an eye on!

”That's why they call the present a gift, right?"

Thank you to Little Tiger for providing me with a physical arc in exchange for a review!