While this book didn't blow me away, it was nonetheless perfectly enjoyable and as far as I'm concerned, a successful start to a trilogy. This isn't a book that's for everyone--all of the characters are varying levels of morally-questionable at best because they're involved with the mafia, the world is larger than what we see (we spend the whole time in the capital city of Janloon, despite mention of other countries that directly effect the characters and events in this book), and the magic system isn't explained in great detail (although I feel like I got a solid idea of how it works, other people might not be as familiar with magic systems and might feel like what info we are given isn't enough). My assumption is that we'll get more on the wider world in the next book, we'll possibly learn a bit more about the magic, and the characters will continue to be gangsters so nothing is really gonna change there.

This book definitely relies on action and fight sequences to drive the narrative, which isn't surprising since you have two large gangs on the brink of war. The family dynamics of the Kaul family are the other driving force — a new generation has taken over leadership roles within the clan and they have a lot to prove without having a rival clan testing their strength. This was probably my favorite part of the book to be honest. You have the old generation still putting their oar in and undercutting the new generation; the new generation, especially Lan as Pillar, trying to find their footing and establish authority; and then the complicated relationship between Lan, Hilo, and Shae as they try to work together to keep the No Peak clan strong. Hilo was the least interesting to me because he embodies the violent gangster stereotype — he thinks with his fists and has little capacity for strategy or nuance.

The magic system here was an interesting twist on a fairly common scaffold: a substance that imbibes users with magical ability. Here though, some people are overly sensitive to it and become addicted and end up dying; some are completely immune to it; and a select number, called Green Bones, can actually safely use it, provided they are properly trained. What I like best about it is that a person's abilities (or lack thereof) are based on their bloodline but also on a degree of luck. Some people born to Green Bone families have no jade ability, while others born to families who are oversensitive become Green Bones. I personally don't like when a character's strength or success is reliant on having the right bloodline or being pre-destined (looking at you Skywalkers).

The characters weren't exactly weak but I never felt close to them — I didn't dislike them or not care about them, but I just didn't feel drawn to them.

Lan's death took me by surprise though. I was expecting to watch him slowly unravel and become an addict, so to have him die partway through the book (and in the way he did) shocked me a bit. I loved it.

I'm hoping politics and strategy play a larger role in the next book. There was a little bit of it here but I enjoy brains over brute force most of the time and that was something I felt was a little lacking. I also want to know more about the Pillar of the Mountain clan. From what little we got in this book, she seems to be an interesting mix of merciless violence and clever strategy and that's something I find very intriguing.

Overall, this was a successful start to the trilogy and while it was by no means perfect, it was enjoyable and I plan on continuing on with the story.

DNFd after 7 stories. Enjoyed Seanan McGuire's version of Red Riding Hood the best. I was already feeling meh about the book by the time I got to Catherynne M. Valente's story and that one was enough to kill any desire to finish the anthology. It's a pity because I very nearly loved Robots vs. Fairies.

Also, this was my 2nd attempt. The first time I only read part of the first story before setting it aside.