One of the many things I love about MK Lobb is that she knows how to do enemies to lovers right. Her main characters are most assuredly fierce enemies at the beginning of these stories–the kind that will screw you over without blinking. They fight things like caring tooth and nail. The romance? It burns slow. Very slow. The attraction burns faster, but sometimes you can’t help who makes you hot. 

Anger is at the center of every interaction and every page of To Steal From Thieves, which may be a very fun read but is also a book that seethes with injustice. A fantastical story set in an alternative history surrounding the 1851 Great Exhibition that took place in London, its root plot is a jewel heist. I’m a sucker for heist plots, especially those involving jewels. It reminds me of gentleman thieves and slick female cat burglars who can navigate complex traps to get their prize. The jewel heist in TSFT is more about survival and less about pretty shiny stones, though, in a time when so many Londoners were unhoused, starving, and in debt to gangsters. Our two main characters, Kane and Zaria, each have something to live for and something worth dying for. This heist is the key to a freedom of sorts. 

Lobb never scrimps on worldbuilding, and with so many real-world details to get exactly right to match up with the overlaid fantasy world, I was so happy to see just how intensive and accurate it got (if you can spot the Karl Marx cameo, you deserve a cookie!). The magic system seems to be some sort of fictional cousin to alchemy but is no less fascinating, and is explained rather well without dumping information on the reader. 

I’m glad I knew going in this was going to be a duology, because as I approached 80% I felt the pressure of a turn coming, and I wasn’t ready. I can’t wait for the sequel. 4⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Action Adventure/Duology/Disability Rep/Fantasy/Romantasy/YA Fiction/YA Fantasy/YA Romantasy