Review also posted to my blog.


Asian Readathon: read a book by an asian author, read a book featuring an intersectional asian character


content warnings: racism, misogyny, ableism, homophobia, discussion of colonialism, violence, loss of a loved one, torture, gore, body horror, mentions of past suicide, abandonment, panic attacks, grief
representation: biracial (algerian-french) main character, indian main character, biracial (filipino-spanish) bi/pan main character, jewish autistic main character, black mlm main character, interracial m/m side relationship, interracial f/m side relationship, side characters of colour

“Nothing but a symbol? People die for symbols. People have hope because of symbols. They're not just lines. They're histories, cultures, traditions, given shape.”

Everyone is sleeping on this book and they should stop ASAP! It is a fantastic historical fantasy heist, and honestly if that doesn't sound like everything you've ever wanted then I don't know what else to say.

This is everything I want in a book with that description. This is a book set in late 19th century Paris and while it does sometimes indulge in the glitzy glamour of the time period, it also doesn't shy away from the sheer awfulness of it. This is a book full of characters who are women, people of colour, queer, neurodivergent, non-Christian, and often a combination of those. Through these characters, the book talks about topics of misogyny, racism, ableism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, colonialism, white-passing privilege, being an outsider, erasure of history, and so much more.

Speaking of the characters, holy fuck I love these losers so dang much. They're a group of messy teens who are outsiders in the society they live in and I would die for every single one of them.

⇢ Séverin is a biracial (Algerian-French) boy who owns the hotel L'Eden and is the leader of the group. He is also on a quest to reclaim an inheritance that was stolen from him years ago. He's sometimes a trash boy but I love him with my whole heart.
⇢ Laila is an Indian girl who was brought to life using magic. She's a dancer at L'Eden and has the forging ability to be able to read different objects. She's a perfect mix of super sweet and super lethal, and her romance with Séverin is slowly killing me.
⇢ Enrique is a bisexual biracial (Filipino-Spanish) boy who is a historian. He struggles a lot with where he belongs because of him being white-passing, and being both a historian and a victim of cultural erasure. Personally I'm a big fan of the love triangle that he's in and I hope it ends in polyamory.
⇢ Tristan is Séverin's brother in every way apart from blood and has been by his side since they were children. He is a gardener who has a pet spider called Goliath. He's such a cute softie and I loved him so much :')
⇢ Zofia is an autistic Polish Jewish girl who is a skilled mathematician. She is often the brains behind any of the groups operations, inventing things and solving puzzles. Her relationship with Laila was so darn sweet and I loved every single scene they had together.
⇢ Hypnos is a black queer heir to one of the French houses. He initially comes across as an adversary, but soon proves himself (at least somewhat) trustworthy. He would also give Kaz Brekker a run for his money when it comes to dramatics, just in a very different way.

These characters are effortlessly endearing, and I swear to God if I see another person try to flimsily link them to SoC characters again I might scream. No character is wholly original so can we please stop.

The themes and characters were phenomenal, but the plot was a bit more meh for me. I liked how well-paced it was and the general plot worked really well for me, but unfortunately I'm nowhere near as smart as Roshani Chokshi or her characters so a lot of the finer details were lost on me. Roshani Chokshi has clearly done her homework because there are so many historical, mathematical and scientific deep cuts in this, to the point where I didn't totally understand how characters got from point A to point B. This is more of a me thing though, and I was able to get past it quickly.

The end of this book murdered me, which isn't a criticism just a fact. On the whole, this is a fantastic first book in a series, and book in general. Even if I didn't always understand what ws happening with the plot, I loved the themes and the characters, and I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fun YA fantasy.