Fantasy Review: An Illusion of Thieves

Earlier this year, in a fit of rage and grief over not being able to wander through bookstores and pick out my next read, coupled with panic at my TBR shelf growing too short, I bought a stack of recent-ish adult fantasy novels from my local used book store. 

One of the books I bought was Cate Glass's An Illusion of Thieves, which follows a Romy as she tries to protect her younger brother, make a life for herself, and then to help the man who caused all of her problems. 

I want to like this book. It had it's moments--scenes where my heart was racing, dialogue that made me laugh, my favorite learning-how-to-use-a-weapon tropes. 

However, I really had to drag myself to finish this book. From an analytical standpoint, the pacing was all off. For the first half plus, Romy is focused on staying alive, and on getting her brother under control. Life happens, and we see Romy react to it in the best way she can--but her decisions are small-scale. Where to live. How to work. She's an active character, but her choices don't have consequences. Then, we see time pass as they both start to learn swordsmanship, for no real reason other than that they'll need it later when the Plot hits. Then, too close to the end, the heist begins. This is where the book really got interesting. The heist started too late, and passed too quickly, with not enough struggle. It wasn't until pages from the end that we learned it didn't all go exactly according to plan. Tension-wise, it left me feeling a little cheated of the uncontrollable-roller-coaster ride that heists usually are. 

I also thought some of the characterization wasn't consistent. I liked Romy and Placidio, and I think their relationship could go in an interesting direction in future books. However, as an older sister, I'm not buying Romy and Neri's relationship. Halfway through the book in a psychological switch that I wasn't sure I followed, Romy switched from "keep Neri from getting us killed through stupid, impulsive decisions" to "instill a sense of pride in good work in Neri". I expected to see some more struggle from Neri--more clinging to his old ways, backtracking on his good behavior, last-minute petulance that nearly ruined the heist--the kind of character arc that would make him a main character in his own right, instead of a side character whose growth serves only to support the plot. Neri read to me as a device. Not a brother. 

I did like how the book ended by setting the group up for a future heist--but it felt to me like a very long prologue to whatever story that will be. I don't think this book needed to stand on its own. If I happen across that next book, I might read it, but I don't think I'll seek it out.