Format: Print 

I’ve had this book for years by this point and finally sat down to read it in the run up to Bonfire Night as it’s inspired by the events of the Gunpowder Plot. I was initially concerned that my time for this had passed, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. 

I like the slightly fantastical approach to a true historical event, and the colours concept was intriguing, although I will say that it was slightly confusing and could perhaps have been explained better. I got the general concept but I couldn’t see it 100% clearly in my mind. So maybe a bit more worldbuilding was needed. Although I’m not entirely sure how you’d have done that – all our characters after all have grown up in this word so it’s not as if we could learn alongside them. 

I also appreciated that it stayed true to real events and generally included real conspirators in the plot, albeit adapted to the fantastical context. There were certain things about the Gunpowder Plot that I either didn’t know or had forgotten and it gave me a nudge to go back and look a few things up after reading which I appreciated as a history fan. 

I wasn’t a massive fan of our main character, Thomas, but I really liked both Guy Fawkes and Emma. I thought they were well fleshed out and I like the relationship dynamics that were explored between them and Thomas (although I’m not sure we needed a romantic subplot). Overall, I had a good time reading this, and I’m really glad I finally picked it up.