One of my favourite reads of 2017 (apologies for super late feedback, I am a bad blogger). Thoroughly enjoyed.

I requested this book a few years ago (like four!) but it got archived before I downloaded the file, so I never got around to reading it. While I still find the premise of this book intriguing, I don't find myself getting around to this book anytime soon. For fairness I will rate this book 5 stars, as to not negatively impact the overall average.

Unfortunately I no longer wish to review this book as the first few chapters did not reel me in. Thank you for the opportunity.

Not the normal kind of book I read, and I was astonished at how engrossed I was in the story! The tale of a refugee from the Congo sounds rather depressing, yet it was riveting and fascinating.
I was very surprised to see that this was a first novel by the author, as the characters were amazingly well developed, the plot with all its twists and turns was great, and the conclusion was a surprise. I highly recommend this book to any reader, not just young adults.

This is a YA contemporary standalone set in modern day Africa. After a friend gave this 5 stars, I had to read it and was so pleased to enjoy it as much as she did. This is a fast-paced murder mystery, with an atmospheric setting and engaging characters. I'd definitely recommend this one!

a book with very strong female characters and great writing but sometimes a bit too heavy on the violence -rape especially- that i can not recommend this book for everyone.
But if you are interested in this book and know its violent, it has too much rape in it and are still interested in it? Defiantly read it!

Content warning: rape, death, murder, civil war, war violence, kidnapping, sexual assault, slavery

Tina's mother was killed in her employer's (Mr. Greyhill) study and all signs point to him being the killer. Tina leaves the place she called home and lives on the streets while her sister goes to a catholic school. When the gang she is allied with asks her to run a job on Mr. Greyhill she is happy to accept. What she does not expect is for this job to lead her back to the war storm country of Congo where she was born to discover what really happen to her mother.

God what a well researched novel. The author is white so I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of representation of the the really heavy issues in this book but when you get to the acknowledgements part of this book you find out just how much work she put into this. She researched it for so long and she lived in Kenya, she put so much into it.

It took me a while to read this book. Not because there was anything wrong with it but because it was so heavy and dealt with such difficult topics. What I would have to say though is that the second half of the novel was a lot faster paced than the first half and I found that part easier to read. Maybe because there was less of the actual history involved and more action.

I adored the characters. Tina was so intense and strong, she was fiercely loyal to both her sister and her mother, she was such a brave girl. I really admired Tina. I also loved Michael because he so readily went along with Tina even though he didn't believe his dad did it but he also wanted Tina to find out the truth for both her own and her mothers benefit.

The story line was tense and gripping and I'm normally pretty good at guessing what's going on in mystery books but this caught me by surprise. As someone who doesn't read much mystery for this reason it made me super happy that I picked this book up.

inesreadsbooksLast night I finished City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson. I got a copy via Netgalley. First of all, I finished this in 24 hours, such a fast read. I really liked it. I loved the setting and really liked Tina. I was hooked from the beginning. This book contains a vivid world, good characters and a intriguing story. There is a little bit of romance in there, wich was unnecessary in my opinion. The ending was a little bit neat, but overall I really liked it and gave it 4/5⭐️

Have you read Six of Crows & confident that nothing will ever come close? LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO
i) the Goondas aka the new Dregs
ii) Tiny Girl aka The Wrath (but SMALLER)
iii) Boyboy aka Jesper... but more drawn to a Louboutin clutch than a revolver
iv) aaaand I don't think Kaz Brekker could ever be re-embodied, but Michael is pretty darn cute!

Okay I am now going to abandon my Six of Crows parallels because I want to make it clear that I am not in any way saying that this book "copied" or "stole" ideas from Bardugo, and I want to let this book shine for what it is, but I did want to make the parallels to hook y'all in.

Now here's what the book is - a fast paced, intelligent, heartbreaking, Eastern African (Kenyan/ Congolese) narrative about gritty subjects of war and corruption, in the context of revenge and unlikely ally-ships turning into friendships with a common goal. How's THAT for a plot.

This review is hard to write because I can't give you any specifics without ruining the intricacies of this novel, but the characters are wonderful! Tiny Girl is hard on the outside, soft in the middle, just like a good cookie. Although tiny, she is valued by her gang, perhaps more than she should be 👀 She works with an end-goal in mind, which is one half revenge and the other half protecting her little sister, who she makes time to see every Friday. When she runs into her old friend Michael, although she hates his father, she is open to compromise (as long as she gets her goal in the end). She is also very protective over Boyboy (a gay character - though I can't comment on wether it was good rep or not!) who she insists is "just a business partner, not a friend," but will bend over backwards to make sure he is okay. Tina's relationship with Michael was amazing to follow. Friends ---> enemies ---> ...friends 😉

There was so much humour in this novel, Tiny Girl is so quick witted, but at the same time there is so much pain - and it is conveyed so beautifully. Also, the East African culture came through in every aspect of the plot, including the humour as well as the pain. The personification of War was heartbreaking and provoking - "And before it left, it placed its hands on five young women, including the two young women who would not be separated, and said, These are mine. And it stole them away into the night."

This novel is a beacon of light for YA, (although not own voices, which would have been v nice) we have East African rep, fast paced with an intricate plot and lovable characters - go out and support this book and watch the industry grow 📚

// Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review //

Sixteen-year-old Tina, or ‘Tiny Girl’, is a refugee from the Congo living rough in Sangui City, Kenya. Ever since her mother was murdered four years ago, Tina has survived on the streets by working as a thief for the Goondas (the city’s local gang) but revenge against her mother’s killer – who she believes to be her old employer, Mr Roland Greyhill, – has always been at the forefront of her mind. When a plan to steal information from Mr Greyhill’s house on his supposed dodgy dealings goes wrong, Tina finds herself held captive by Greyhill’s son and her old childhood friend, Michael. As new information is revealed, Tina discovers that she may have been wrong about the identity of her mother’s murderer and sets out on a journey to find out the truth – whatever the cost.

As young adult mystery thrillers go, this one could not have been done better. The characters were original and likeable and the feisty protagonist herself had a fresh and engaging voice that really turned on its head any preconceptions I had about refugees in Africa. The narrative was fast-paced and contained plenty of twists as well as occasional smatterings of humour and romance to keep fans of all genres happy. My one criticism would be that the plot perhaps wasn’t as intricate or clever as some murder mysteries I have read and a few more layers of complexity may be preferred by some veteran crime thriller readers. It is also possible that some readers may find some of the elements inferred in the story (rape, torture etc) upsetting, although they are not described in detail.

The setting of this novel in Kenya and the Congo made this book really stand out for me, as it created an atmosphere for the story unlike any I’ve ever experienced before. The author has obviously done a lot of research and her portrayal of life in cities and towns, like those to which her characters travel, was vivid and unexpected, although presumably fairly realistic as she has worked with refugees in Kenya. Wars, gangs, sexism, military takeovers and even slave labour are sadly still not unheard of in some parts of the world and this novel weaves aspects of these terrible occurrences into Tina’s story without seeming over-dramatic or distracting from the plot. The realisation that many young girls and women are living like Tina as we speak added an extra emotional layer to what was already a good novel and made it stick in my head after I had finished.

I would recommend this book to people keen for an adventure story with a fresh setting and a gutsy female lead. Although aimed at teenagers, I feel that many adults would also enjoy this book, particularly if they are interested in an alternative portrayal of Africa than that which we see on the news.

Daenerys

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

I . Loved . This . Book . It was rich, thrilling and overall an amazing ride.
That sums things up. Although I don’t have anything in common with our heroine I felt immediately synched with her. The story told here was one of vengeance and the search of truth. This revenge of course had multiple twists and overall a bit of everything, adventure, thriller, action… but most importantly the relationships formed here and the colourful background were what stole my heart. I didn’t expect to get this depth in a YA novel, but this surprised me, for the better. I don’t have anything bad to say about it and I understand completely all the buzz surrounding this one when it got released in the US.

The writing grabbed my attention from page one. They say first sentences are crucial (which is something I am starting to get used to now) and in this case it worked wonders! The construction of characters and the description of every single thing made you feel part of the landscape, which is pretty impressive given that it takes part in an area I don’t know anything about.
The author did a terrific job telling this story the way she did. It’s clear she spent some time and documented herself more than enough to give a believable image of the situation there.

In this case I think the less you know the more you will enjoy this unique story. I had never read anything like this, based on African lands and I The main plot and where the story surrounds around is the mystery of Tina’s mother’s murder. Tina, our heroine, goes from a broken family to an even more broken one. In this search of truth Tina finds herself in the center of an uncommon entourage that must defeat all odds, but is this company she keeps that makes the whole thing even more endearing. Her circumstances are unimaginably hard and difficult but thrilling to hear about it.
The mystery was there, but as the story progresses the plot keeps thickening and when they finally travel to the tiny town of Congo where Tina’s mom came from things get even weirder, trickier and let’s say fricking interesting and twisted!
The conclusion was surprising and I don’t mind saying I didn’t see it coming, not until it was too late. And let me say my mind was all sorts of *WTH WHOAAA WTH*
Simply perfect. The anguish and melancholy the reader must have felt throughout the novel will disappear as easily as it appeared, because the main felling I got from it all was happiness. Not complete happiness, but you’ll understand it when you read it, which I highly encourage you to.

There wasn’t a single character here that didn’t bring something vital to the story, at least not that I can remember.
First of course we have our heroine Tina. She was so fierce and relatable. Yes at the beginning of the story she could only see red (vengeance red) but she evolved, matured and grew out to be an incredible young woman. She was nonetheless flawed but a realistic flawed that
Then we find the rest of the gang aka Mr. rich and lovely eyed Michael and her non-goonda colleague tech genius Boyboy. This three make quite a threesome
There’s a ton of important characters that will help (or not) this trio in their search of the truth but wanting to keep things fresh I am just going to mention the Goondas. I had never before heard about them but they were kind of a street gangster group that “adopted” Tina as one of their own. They were her family for most of her life, the ones that taught her the ropes of being a thief and the ones that wanted to control her.

The only thing that comes to mind after finishing this book is “WOW, what the freaking hell.”. I had no idea I got so tense reading this and I am now completely exhausted. This was such an excellent, thrilling and emotionally tense ride!

The book is told in a very unique way – each chapter being a rule for becoming a good thief -, it’s set in Kenya and it develops around Tina. She is a refugee from Congo, a thief, and a gang member. Everything about her made me want to know more and more. She was a really exciting character and I really cared about her.

Tina suffered a lot in her life and for 5 years she has been planning to revenge her mother’s death. She joined a gang called Goondas, where she has been developing and perfecting her plan to kill the person, who she knows killed her – a very rich and powerful Mr. Greyhill. But the story has much more to it than she thinks, and when nothing goes according to plan, and she is caught stealing files from his computer by Michael (Mr. Greyhill’s son). After that she is forced to make a deal with him – he will help her find out what really happen to her mother and in exchange, she doesn’t expose the illegal files on his dad’s computer.

I never read any book set in Kenya, and I can’t really say I know much about it, or Congo, for that matter. But this book describes them beautifully. It’s very easy to visualize and it seemed to me very realistic. We see the darkest parts of Congo, more exactly a tiny village in it, where she lived as a child. Tina, Michael, and Boyboy go there, in order to unravel the past and find the truth. But is she ready for that?

I really enjoyed Tina. She was completely consumed by revenge and sadness and it was really interesting to see it slowly change and find reason. I loved how she cared about her family – her sister – and how strong she was. The rest of the characters in this book were as compelling as her. They had a soul, and I loved to read about each of them.

Driven by friendship, revenge, love, greed… all the characters were very well characterized and it turned into an amazing mystery that was impossible to figure out. That was paired with the darkest part of reality.

It was an extremely well-written thriller, gripping and exhilarating! This book has everything – complex and interesting characters, beautiful writing, it’s fast-paced with an intense mystery and featuring countries not seen in many books. I would definitely recommend this book!

An incredibly tense and unique story, I loved reading this. Tina is a character you can really root for / get behind and the Goondas are wonderful. One of my new favourites!

Only 4* because sometimes it lost its pacing for me but great.

Loved this book! It is an exciting page turner from the start as Tiny sets out to take revenge the man who killed her mother. Set in Kenya and the Congo, the story gives insights into the difficult circumstances in the real lives of people there - extremes of wealth and lawlessness. There is some violence and mention of rape but while adults will read between the lines, the details are not explicit and should not be too upsetting for young readers maturing into young adults. I will definitely be buying this for our library and recommending it to our students.

The main part of this novel that stood out to me was that it was set in Congo so I knew that diversity would be very very prominent within the book. With a 90% black cast with a handful of mixed race characters and a couple of white characters as well, this book explores racism, refugees and the war against the militia within Congo and surrounding areas. Whilst all of this is happening, this book also disguises itself as an action-packed thriller/mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

In the shadows of Sangui City, there lives a girl who doesn't exist. After fleeing the Congo as refugees, Tina and her mother arrived in Kenya looking for the chance to build a new life and home. Her mother quickly found work as a maid for a prominent family, headed by Roland Greyhill, one of the city’s most respected business leaders. But Tina soon learns that the Greyhill fortune was made from a life of corruption and crime. So when her mother is found shot to death in Mr. Greyhill's personal study, she knows exactly who’s behind it.

With revenge always on her mind, Tina spends the next four years surviving on the streets alone, working as a master thief for the Goondas, Sangui City’s local gang. It’s a job for the Goondas that finally brings Tina back to the Greyhill estate, giving her the chance for vengeance she’s been waiting for. But as soon as she steps inside the lavish home, she’s overtaken by the pain of old wounds and the pull of past friendships, setting into motion a dangerous cascade of events that could, at any moment, cost Tina her life. But finally uncovering the incredible truth about who killed her mother—and why—keeps her holding on.

I read this book in a few hours; I was absolutely captivated by the premise of the story. The beginning immediately had me hooked and kept me going until the very end. Our main character, Tina has a huge huge character arc throughout the novel and even though she is our strong, female protagonist, we also see a sensitive, emotional side to her which makes her a very relatable MC. I also really liked how Tina had loads of tattoos. I don't see a lot of male/female protagonists in YA that had piercings/tattoos so it was a breath of fresh air to read from the persepctive of a character who does have them. The only other characters that I liked within this book were BoyBoy and Michael. It's probably because they had more spotlight than other characters which meant they could be developed more, but side characters such as Bug Eye and Ketchup really didn't grip me. I just really didn't like them and I felt like they didn't add anything to the story other than being in the Goondas gang.

The thriller aspect of the novel was actually very good - hence why I finished the book in a few hours! It was just so well written, with the descriptions of Congo pulling me in. There were such vivid descriptions of all of the settings that I felt like I was actually there and that I was a fly on the wall watching the whole story play out.





"After a while I found that I liked pain better than emptiness. The little monster inside of me fed on the violence and grew strong."

- Natalie C. Anderson, City of Saints and Thieves





There were a couple of things that I didn't really like about the book. One was when we find out who killed Tina's mother. I felt like it was slightly obvious, as I had guessed who it was at around 35%. There is also a part near the end of the novel where we find out *MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD* that Mr. Grehill as been paying for Kiki's school at the Convent. Oh yes, a white man coming to the help of the poor mixed race kid and the black kid, because that felt really original. No, I didn't like that at all. I liked at the beginning where we thought Kiki was there on a scholarship but instead, she's there because of some white man's dirty money. I don't care that he's her father, where was he the rest of the years of her life?! But nooooo, money solves everything, doesn't it?!

Ok, rant over. Aside from those couple of things, I really did like this book and I thought that it was a very enjoyable read. You could tell that Anderson had definitely done her research on Congo and the militia problems that they have there. She wrote about the citizens fear so well and captured the scare-mongering that goes on there with such precision. What is also good is that Anderson actually worked in Africa with refugees and development for the past decade. I also think that City of Saints and Thieves is a brilliant debut novel and I can't wait to read more of her work.

Warning: this book contains triggers for death and racial abuse and rape.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Out in hardback at the moment and released in paperback on July 6th

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo meets Gone Girl in this enthralling YA murder mystery set in Kenya."

That is what it says. For me, it wasn't enthralling. I mean, the first chapters were amazing, beginning with a rule and an explanation that transported us to the actual moment. And then she enters the house, finds her old friend and all goes into slow-mo and loses all the excitement. I kept plodging ahead hoping to reconnect with the good vibes from the first chapters, but nope. What had been an interesting female lead crumbs. There is this boy who I just don't believe or see as real. As much as I don't believe no one questions him about the girl that has come back to the house. I mean... he lives in a mansion, FFS! No one from the staff asks? And pretending she went to Paris in a scholarship? With what money? No one checks anything here? Sorry, but I couldn't buy/believe the story :(

City of Saints and Thieves was one of my anticipated reads for this year. From the synopsis, the book sounded as though it had a lot of potential to be amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked.

Most of the problems I had stemmed from the fact that the author of this book is white, and writing about Kenyan and Congolese characters. I realise that she has worked with Congolese refugees in Kenya and everything, and that's where some of the background for this comes from, but it's very very obviously written by a white author. And because that's how it felt, I had trouble actually getting into this book, and couldn't really connect with any of the characters.

I also had issues with the actual plot. It's supposed to be a murder mystery kind of thing, but if we're honest, there's actually no real investigating done by the main characters. It's all sort of reading through police reports and mumbling about how they need to do x and y, and then they go to the tech whiz and he gets it for them in a flash. Then the reveal comes out of nowhere. They don't even get close to finding out who might be behind it. They have no idea, but the bad guy then reveals his hand by kidnapping them even though they don't know who he is until that point. For this to be an effective mystery, you have to at least have them uncovering something that points towards the culprit. Otherwise it feels like the author's just gone and added it in as an afterthought.

The rest of what annoyed me was mostly just the usual YA stereotypes - of course the main character is incredibly pretty, it's just not going to work as a book if she isn't, and of course the gay character is camp as hell just so he can be slight comic relief, and of courseshe's not like other girls (she actually said this. My eyes near on rolled out my skull). So yeah. It was disappointing to say the least.

Following her mother’s death, Tina has to learn how to take care of her younger sister and herself, all the while living off the streets in Sangui City. As part of the latest mission the local gang she’s part of has embarked on, Tina must infiltrate the house of the man (presumably) responsible for her mother’s murder. The mission, however, is compromised and Tina must now face a past she has no wish to go back to. Determined to find out the truth about that night, she embarks on a journey to find out who her mother really was and what really happened to her.

I’ve sat on this review for two weeks now and I’m still not sure how to write it so it might end up being all over the place. City of Saints & Thieves is definitely not a bad book – it’s enjoyable and attention-grabbing. My conflicted feelings may be caused by the fact I read this while in a not-so-good place, but for the most part it really did entertain me.

The writing is definitely one of this book’s strong sides. Tina’s voice is captivating and easy to follow. I also liked the occasional pop culture reference that would pop up, it made the book all the more fun. (You can’t mention comic book stuff and expect me not to get excited, ok?) The first person POV goes perfectly with the atmosphere the book creates and definitely helps build the suspense.

Tina is a refreshing character and it was interesting to see things through her eyes. She’s not any of your typical YA heroines. She’s determined, but often finds herself questioning herself, which I found incredibly realistic and relatable. Some might think her resolve weak for wavering at the slightest nudge, but we all know how easy it is to give into those little seeds of doubt that get planted inside our heads. Despite all that, Tina still pushes forward and does not give up on her principles – I really appreciated that about her.

Honestly, I feel like we didn’t get enough of the rest of the characters and I couldn’t form solid opinions on them because of that. And personally, I think we got too much of Michael, but that could be because I didn’t like him. I wasn’t interested in anything he had to say or offer.

Overall, City of Saints & Thieves did not manage to ensnare me completely. I enjoyed it, but I also found it a bit lacking – probably due to the chaotic mental state I was in while reading. I’d still recommend it if you like mysteries and suspense.

In the shadows of Sangui City, a street-thief called Tina patiently plots her revenge. Her mother has been shot dead at the home of one of Kenya’s richest businessmen, and Tina is sure she knows who’s to blame.

When a local gang asks her to steal from his home, it’s the chance Tina has been waiting for. But as she steps inside, old wounds resurface and she is caught red-handed by his son, Michael. The pair set in motion a cascade of dangerous events that could, at any moment, cost Tina her life. The desire to uncover the incredible truth about who killed her mother — and why — keeps her holding on in this fast-paced, nail-biting thriller.

The book has a good solid knowledge of the area and with strong colourful characters. The storyline is about revenge but ultimately it is a coming of age of understanding the truth behind her mothers death and dealing with it. The characters move the story along at a fair pace and are interesting enough to keep the story interesting and the reader guessing at the outcome. Well written book with good research knowledge and an understanding of the characters she portrayed.