I read Sally Green’s previous YA fantasy trilogy HALF BAD, which I enjoyed enough to read to the end – while it had some problems (particularly in the treatment of its LGBT characters), it held my attention and I really did care about Nathan, who I thought was a great protagonist for the series.

THE SMOKE THIEVES is very different to HALF BAD – it’s in third person with multiple narrators, and instead of taking place in the real world with magical elements, it’s Green’s first foray into second world fantasy. I wouldn’t call it high fantasy – it’s definitely more in the vein of “low fantasy” like A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, which it’s already drawing comparisons to – there’s not much magic in the book, if any, as the only mark of fantasy is the existence of demons and their smoke, which has magical properties.

I have to be honest here – I found THE SMOKE THIEVES to drag in a few places. It’s overlong, and the pace is a bit erratic – sometimes scenes feel like they’re over too quickly, while others take way too long and are weighed down with too much exposition that just ended up being boring. I also found the multiple narrators to be too unbalanced – there were five viewpoints to follow and some characters got more attention than others, to the point where I sometimes forgot what was happening to a particular narrator because we hadn’t seen them in a while.

The good parts? Some of the main characters are very enjoyable to follow. I particularly liked Tash, the young girl who is a demon hunter working in a partnership with the grouchy Gravell – she acts as bait for his traps and has her heart set on a pair of boots that she wants to buy with her earnings. I also liked Edyon, the thief, who is unaware of his heritage and his role in the plans that March and Holywell have for him. Catherine started off interesting, but I found her star-crossed love interest Ambrose to be incredibly dull so couldn’t get invested in their relationship at all. More Tash and more demons, please.

The demons! They were very cool. I did really enjoy the original take on these creatures – they’re human-looking, red and purple and orange, and when they die, hunters like Tash and Gravell capture their smoke, which has special properties (ranging from getting you high to healing wounds). If I only had one criticism, it’s that there wasn’t enough of them.

There’s also a particularly grim bit of gore involving a box, which delighted the morbid monster in me, so if that’s the kind of thing that floats your boat, then you’ll be satisfied.

There are hints of a LGBT romance creeping in in THE SMOKE THIEVES, and I hope that it won’t go down the same route that HALF BAD did – as a bisexual reader I was excited to see Nathan’s relationships develop and the end of HALF LOST left me with a very sour taste in my mouth. Hopefully we’ll see it develop positively over the rest of the trilogy.

If you’re looking for a YA Game of Thrones, then THE SMOKE THIEVES *sort of* hits the spot – it’s a bit more tame, and a little more simple, but has a lot of the same appeal as the TV series. While I didn’t LOVE it – it didn’t feel particularly unique in terms of plot or world-building to me, and a bunch of the characters felt a bit flat – it was a decent read and if you’re a big fan of fantasy YA, you should give it a go.

(Also, that American cover with the golden busts is STUNNING. I love it.)

This wonderful fantasy new tale written by Sally Green has everything I like in a good story. Princes and princesses, a maniac and cruel king wishing to conquer it all by blood, a powerless young princess whose only desire is to be her own person and have a life of her own, wanting to escape abusive male dominance...there is a little bit of magic and a lot of courage and love and friendship and sad moments...I absolutely loved it. I always find that strong female characters make the best stories, I loved Catherine and her determination, her wittiness and her strong moralities and principles...I felt intrigued by the curious and strong partnership of Tash and Gravell and completely delighted on Edyon and March encounters. Sally Green is a new author and I am delighted to have met such a good narrator that keeps the action and the characters moving so every page is a wonderful experience.

The only thing I do not understand very much is the title....why The Smoke Thieves? It looks like the story is centered on Edyon and March (they are the ones stealing the smoke…) when in fact, it is centered in Catherine and her struggles between her family, her future husband and her lover Ambrose, the story starts with her, the main plot unraveled by her and the book ends with her and her determination not to be subjugated any more...also, one thing I am tired about is seeing the chapters titled with the name of the character speaking...it´s so common already, every single book I read finds this classification...isn't there anything else?

Nevertheless, I enjoyed every word, an absolute 10 and I cannot wait to read how the story continues..

The smoke thieves is a very enjoyable story. It's written in the form of 5 narratives, each the voice of a teenager, each linked intrinsically.
I eagerly await the rest of the series.

I wondered when I finished the “Half Bad” series how on earth Sally Green would follow that up with anything even close to it’s addictive brilliance – turns out that wasn’t even a problem as she brings us “The Smoke Thieves” a multi-layered character drama set in a politically unstable fantasy world.

Five teenagers, their fates inextricably linked, even though they don’t yet know it, forms the heart of the plot. All of them have their own fascinatingly intriguing background and the author slowly but surely builds us a picture of their individual worlds and how they are headed on a collision course, drawing the reader into a hugely adventurous and entertaining piece of storytelling.

I was especially drawn to Catherine, who is intelligent yet resigned to her fate, it is even a fate she welcomes – until she begins to understand the evil that men do – and to Tash, demon hunter, lover of boots, growing up in a tumultuous world. All our main protagonists however are beautifully drawn, engaging and diverse.

The world building is brilliant once more, I loved the demon aspect, hoping to find out more about that particular strand in future novels – the political landscape is cleverly divisive and the plotting is taut and cleverly written, I immersed myself into this world and once I had a handle on it I read this fast, one of those books where you think “just one more chapter” then suddenly you are done.

I’m loathe to give too much away – but if you loved the Half Bad series for it’s realistically flawed and highly relatable characters, for the ebb and flow of the relationships and for the reading trauma fuelled storytelling then you are going to ADORE The Smoke Thieves which does all that but better. I am on tenterhooks for book two – this is going to be one heck of a ride.

Highly Recommended.

Tash is 13, running from her life from the demons that she is used as bait to hunt. Edyon is spoiled, steals things for kicks, but may have a very different fate in store. Catherine is a princess, betrothed to the Prince of a foreign kingdom and about to watch her first public execution, but cannot keep her eyes off her bodyguard. March is the servant to a Prince, a Prince who was responsible for the destruction of March's homeland.

Great structure and story - I love a fantasy novel with key characters that are split geographically, hold knowledge about different parts of the plot and slowly and steadily interact with each other until everything reaches its conclusion.

Definitely my kind of YA Fantasy - good range of characters, doesn't try to shield the reader from danger and a good quality tyrant/villain.

Loved the ending too - lots more to find out about demon smoke (and demons), questions about the safety of some characters and the perfect set up for engaging future books.

*I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. This has not influenced my opinions.*

Thank you to Netgalley, Sally Green and Penguin Random House for my ARC of The Smoke Thieves.
Title: The Smoke Thieves


Summary
The Smoke Thieves tells the story from the POV of 5 different characters. Tash an assistant demon catcher who works with her boss Gravell to catch demons and collect their smoke which despite being illegal, brings a high price. Princess Catherine is in Brigant, city of warlords, preparing for her arranged marriage but loving someone else from afar. Ambrose cares about his job in the Royal Guard but now he's being hunted as a traitor. March seeks revenge on his princely employer who he blames for the death of his people, and Edyon is a thief who's about to find out that the road from rags to riches isn't easy.

But slowly, each character's story becomes intertwined leading up to an ending full of magic and war.

Review

At first I struggled to get into The Smoke Thieves while I adjusted to the various narratives, but once I settled in to who everyone was, it was easy to get pulled into the story.
I loved how fierce Catherine was and don't think anyone should be put off by Tash being 13 as this is definitely YA and not young teen fiction. I felt so conflicted over the love triangle and think my allegiances changed somewhat regarding that in the end.

Edyon was an entertaining if blundering character but I'm expecting some surprises from him in the future.

I was definitely getting The Princess Bride feels from Catherine and Ambrose although Catherine is far more fierce than Buttercup.

The story itself was a lot of world building and narrative building in this first one but that's to be expected and certainly wasn't a bad thing, it was great getting to know the world and characters and I'm expecting lots of action and more events in the next book in the series. In fact I'm kind of regretting reading this an arc as now I've even longer to wait for the sequel!