The Smoke Thieves has been pretty close to the top of my TBR for a while now because any fantasy book with found-family elements and multiple POVs is basically an automatic must-read. Now I've finally gotten around to it, and I don't know quite what to think.
The weird thing is, I enjoyed the book despite the fact that it felt like almost nothing happened. I think that the five POVs really worked in the story's favor. Usually, I don't like books as much if I can't get a feel for the overarching plot, but I didn't mind as much because I was entertained just getting to know the characters and the world.
Admittedly, Ambrose has the weakest POV: he just simps for Catherine the whole time, which wasn't horrible until I learned he's 21 and she's 16... and his entire personality is just HER. I also didn't love Catherine, but I did respect her. I've read the "betrothed to some prince" trope too many times to count, but she genuinely wanted the neighboring kingdom to like her, and she made much smarter decisions than I expected. Tash, March, and Edyon were by far the highlights of the story. Tash's POVs were super interesting and I really liked her character and how unique she was. March and Edyon were also very unique; their dynamic was quite different than anything I'd read before. I look forward to seeing what shenanigans they can get into in the next book. Overall, I really liked seeing how the characters interact with each other and how their plots interweaved throughout the novel.
While The Smoke Thieves felt like a prequel to a series or an introduction to a world, it sets up for a fun and action-packed fantasy story about demons, royalty, and found family.
4/5