My review comes with the caveat: I am not the audience for most adventure/swashbuckling stories. And this is, in its bones, a somewhat gritty adventure fantasy with brutal villains and ambiguous heroes. I look for fiction that holds a mirror up to my own humanity and asks me long hard questions. This is far "lighter" than that.

I warmed to parts of it over time; Schwab is skilled in depicting moments when characters are hiding soft underbellies, or when sharp tongues are guarding tender spots, but this only becomes clear halfway through. Up until that halfway point, though, they read as fairly flat.

The way in which White London is simply a brutal place and its rulers cold and bloodthirsty rang a bit false for me. I can't believe in villains who are human and don't have a shred of humanity unless I can see how they got there, unless I follow them on that journey in bits and slivers, a hint here or there, at least.

I will say I want to see more unabashed anti-heroines in fantasy, SF, and fiction in general, and Delilah Bard fits that bill. She's allowed to be self-interested, allowed to be tough, and allowed to want daring and boldness and adventure without apology, and that was refreshing.

While this wasn't really a book for me, it might be one for you. Schwab has some truly good repartee among her characters, and when these are on display, it moved quickly. You can't be delighted over everything you paste your eyeballs to, but there is something fresher here, and if your tastes run to derring do with straightforward action, this will likely be up your alley.