I was hooked from word one on this book! I'll admit, I did question whether I really enjoyed what I was reading, I was drawn into this story every time I picked up my phone.

I read this book aloud to my fiance at night as a way for us to wind down, and we spent a fair amount of time talking about it during his lunch breaks during the day, and I'd like to share a point he made, whether you agree with his point of view is up to you.... My fiance Wesley pointed out that the book had a religious feel to it, and even asked if one of the sub-genres was Christian Fiction. He pointed out similarities between Christian testimonies and snippets from the book such as Emma and the Wagon full of Keepers, Thomas and his conversations with White Light, Guy Fawkes Death, Thomas' mask, etc. I could see his point, but I'm not sure if this was the authors intention, or a happy accident.

There is so much to love, and hate, within this story, and you're in for one heck of a ride once you begin reading. Happy Reading!

This book was an entertaining page-turner. I liked especially the original characters and the well constructed fantasy world with historic background. I'll be checking out the next books by this author.

Overall I enjoyed this book, however I feel it was a little slow in the middle and I almost lost interest and stopped reading it. I’m glad I finished it hover, because it had a good ending. I would recommend this book.

Love it! It's a page turner. I would definitely recommend this to my friends. This is a wonderfully sweet and story. The author perfectly captured the best of life that I will most remember.. So overall, I give this book 4 stars.

A really creative and awesome fantasy, I've never read anything like this before! I loved the way the author combined history and magic and as a history student, definitely appreciated how closely the author stuck to the history of the event she was retelling whilst adding her own unique flair. I wasn't keen on Thomas to start off with but he really grew on me throughout the book and it was great to see a book which explored a father/son relationship as that is something that I rarely see. The magic system was amazing, definitely one of my favourites I've read, I loved the idea of magic controlled by masks. I also really loved the main female character Emma, she was so brave and compassionate and feisty and I just loved her, Would definitely read more from this author in the future after reading this book!

When we first meet Thomas Fawkes he is touched by the stone plague sweeping England. There is no cure, and the plagued are despised. Thomas, with a little help, has managed to hide his symptoms so far and is hoping his father, Guy (yes, that one), will provide him with his colour mask so he can train properly.
While we’re firmly set in 17th century England there are magical references aplenty that mean this is a book that will enthrall both fans of fantasy and historical fiction. It takes a while to work out exactly what the colours mean, but this was an element of the book that really captivated me.
For many readers the Gunpowder plot will be a familiar story. There’s lots in here that will be known but it was brought to life with the other elements contained within the story.
Thomas is a character who came across as rather foolish initially. He acted recklessly and wasn’t strong enough to follow his own convictions. I liked the fact that during the story we see him develop as a character, developing an inner resolve and conviction in his beliefs that you imagine will lead to him doing great things. It also did not go unnoticed that Emma, the girl who captivates him, is no mere sidekick. I’d love to have seen more of this strong young women.
A huge thank you to NetGalley for granting me access to this.

2 stars
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this E-arc to review.

I want to start by saying I DNF'd this book. I genuinely tried to finish- I got 65% of the way through. It just became more and more clear that this book was not for me. I had such high expectations for this book. I was so sure I'd like it. I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and Guy Fawkes has always interested me. How could I not love a historical fiction novel set in London with a fascinating historical figure, an interesting new, fantasy system, and a high-stakes heist? Let's start with our main character: Thomas. An utterly boring character and narrator. I remember so little about him and his motives, he came off so winey and annoying. And it also annoyed me once someone pointed it out- he was always so surprised when a female character (Emma I believe) did ANYTHING impressive or "strong" if that makes sense. Maybe she'd stand up for herself to someone, or do something ladies weren't supposed to do, and he'd think something like "I was so impressed and surprised by it"... I understand it was different times, but why does it seem to then be forced upon us that Thomas is "different" and believes women are strong and equal? I just really disliked him. Then we get to my other problem: the plot and exciting heist, or more the lack thereof. When I picked up this book I was promised an exciting heist. I understand wanting to have the heist towards the end and building up suspense, but the way the plot was executed made the "build up" and prep for the heist incredibly boring. It felt like nothing was happening, just a lot of parties and walking around the market with a few problems sprinkled in. While Six of Crows isn't my favorite book, I will admit the build-up to the heist was everything this book didn't do- exciting, suspenseful, and thrilling. Bardugo kept you on the edge of your seats waiting to see the outcome. While reading Fawkes I came to realize I didn't care if it went wrong, I didn't even care about the heist or the characters. And lastly, the magic system. I was SO CONFUSED. Maybe it was just me, but the whole concept of the magic system made no sense to me. It felt like it needed to be fleshed out, and considering one of the reasons I was so excited for this book was because of the creative magic system you can probably see why I was frustrated. Overall, I feel like this book was so promising but ultimately let me down. I DNF'd it because I was immeasurably bored and couldn't care less about the outcome of the heist or the wellbeing of the characters. There are such better historical fiction, fantasy, and heist novels that I've read.

This book has all the elements that I love to find in a historical fantasy. I thought it was such a fun read, though it was really slow (at least for me) in the beginning and it took awhile to get into. But I'm so proud of Nadine and I can't wait to read more of her books!

DNF. I may try to finish it sometime, but I can't really "get into" this one. I did give it 3 stars because I think it has a lot of potential, but I just can't connect to it. I have read a lot of great reviews, but I really couldn't connect with Thomas and with a first person POV, that's so incredibly important to the book. I'd say it's a good book, just not for me.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The cover is looking really pretty. I really like the ornamental frame. Also the blue background with the scene probably showing old London, is also really nice. The mask looks mysterious and made me really curious. The color of the mask is really suiting to the story.

The writing style was fluent and easy to read. The different fonts regarding the white light and so on, where really nice. The story is written from the first person perspective of Thomas.

The main character of the book was Thomas Fawkes. Most of the time I really liked Thomas. Sometimes his uncertainty disturbed me a little, but it was nice to watch him, find his part in the world and what he wants to believe in. The growing and personal development of him were really impressing. I also found the other characters involved in the Gunpowder Plot quite interesting. The development of the relationship of Thomas with his father was fascinating. The commitment of Catsby to his plot was also interesting. Emma was also a really likeable character. I admired her coping with her origins. Regardless, she was a often really brave and strong.

The story of the book is historical fiction. I've never read that genre before, I think. However, I liked it very much. The mixture of fantasy with a real historical event with persons, that mostly really existed, was really fascinating. I was also really fond of the fantastical view of the two religions in this time period. In general, I liked the included philosophic, political and rascism parts. The were woven very nicely into the story. The fantasy parts with the different color magics and the magic masks was also really fascinating and refreshing.

The end of the story (those of you, who know the real Gunpoder Plot will know) was a little bit brutal, but it also included some little peace of hope.

Conclusion:
Wonderful weaving in of a lot of different aspects into a nice novel - I give the book 4 out of 5 stars ;)

This book immediately caught my interest and I flew through the first quarter of it. A combination of magic and historical fiction was definitely in my wheelhouse.

Following Thomas Fawkes’ quest to make his father, Guy Fawkes proud while simultaneously falling for Emma, spying for the gunpowder plot, fighting his stone plague, and trying to resist the pull of White light, the book seems to pull in too many directions for a while. I was immediately hooked, but definitely hit a wall around midway when the action seemed to stall. However, the last quarter definitely made up for this and my interest was recaptured. I loved the story and found myself pulled to it once again.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Fawkes is definitely what it says it is - a sci fi. I found it very interesting. It starts right off with a huge bang and it keeps going from there. You are brought into a world that is fraught with danger and mystery. Fawkes is very adventurous and full of himself. He has a wonderful friend though - who tries to keep him on an even, steady - down to earth keel. Is he successful? well that is for you to judge. The book is worthwhile to read because it is spirited,, spectacular, outstanding, powerful and playful. The author made a wonderful world for you to visit and enjoy. Have fun reading. I received a copy of this book from the Publisher and Netgalley; all of the opinions expressed in this review are all my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have such a hard time writing this review because I wanted to like this book SO BADLY. I tried really hard to keep reading, but a little voice just kept whispering not to, and I think after a month of trying, I need to just accept that this wasn't the book for me.

I don't want to put anyone off to this book though, and I think it's definitely a book for a lot of people, it just wasn't for me right now.

The premise just sounded so fantastic and I honestly loved the writing, I was just... bored. I feel like some things could have been expedited and I was honestly just wanting more from some of the characters and from the story line in general.

Thomas was also just one of the most frustrating characters in the world. I couldn't connect with him and didn't really feel for him. To me, he was whiny and felt like he deserved so much without having to do anything in order to achieve some of what he wanted.

My biggest qualm though was with the fact that there's this super interesting concept of color powers that just... never gets explained in depth and that could have been so freaking cool. You get tidbits of information as the story goes but you never really get a full explanation as to how it all works. I get that maybe she didn't want a huge info dump for that aspect, but you kinda lose a bit of the story without a full knowledge of these powers.

I feel like I've become more picky with stories over time and I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but this is where I'm at now.

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for a digital copy of the book for review.

The history around the Gun Powder plot is well known here in England but the author resurrects it with new fantastical twists that ad a whole new layer to this already complex story.
The magic system is unique and held great promise however was slightly confusing in parts and had a couple plot holes that took away from it for me.
The pacing of the story was definitely much slower at the start but did pick up in the latter half of the story. Some of the story was so good that i just couldn't put the book down and other bits felt as though they were dragging slightly.
Bits of the story were dated and other bits were not and months had allegedly passed which wasn't made clear straight away.

Ultimately this was a book that held great promise for me and wasn't and, it just didn't live up to it.

Overall, it was a good read and I enjoyed the themes Brandes brought to the table, especially when it came to seeing past prejudice and racism.

So this is my very first review for Netgalley and I really wanted it to be a positive one. But unfortunately it isn't.

I had this book on my wishlist for a very long time. The description sounded great and the cover is just mind-blowing! so when I got the possibility by Netgalley to read it, I took it straight on.
Historical fiction isn't a genre I normally read, but if it is written well. I'm in for it. This book tho had a lot of ups and downs.

What did I like?
- I loved Emma. She is such a strong character and I loved how she stood up for herself and made it all the way to the school and learning the color magic.
- i liked the combination of fiction with history. It wasn't your standard twist on history and I enjoyed that very much.

What didn't I like?
- The color magic part. It felt very chaotic and just unrealistic. I didn't really get how everything worked and just was all over the place.
- Thomas the main character. I just didn't feel for him at all. At some point I actually wished he would die of that damn plague already.
- The pace of the story. Some parts were highlighted by dates and then all of a sudden the story claimed to be 3 months later, but no date was mentioned. It just felt weird and i think it would have been better to leave the dates out all together then sometimes do and sometimes don't.
- For a long time it felt like absolutely nothing happened. Just a lot of moaning and self-pity from Thomas, but nothing actually happening. It was maybe around page 300 that the pace quickened, which made it feel like the writer just wanted to end the story as fast as possible.

So would I recommend it? To fantasy and young adult readers (who are the people i know are swooning over this book) no I would not. Historical fiction lovers? Yes I would.

Title: Fawkes
Author: Nadine Brandes
Ch: 49
Pgs: 448
Genre: Historical fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars

I discovered one thing while reading Fawkes that historical fantasy isn’t a genre that I really don’t like. Give me either fantasy or historical fiction. That being said Fawkes was an interesting read. It was a novel about the Guy Powder plot to kill King James of England, but with a fantasy twist. The novel was well written and Nadine Brandes does an awesome job of weaving history, fact, myth with fantasy to give u a unique story.

Even though I didn’t love it I would still recommend it to anyone who don’t mind historical fiction mixed with fantasy. Thomas and Emma were characters that despite their faults were easy to like. They both had a lot to overcome and growing to do and by the end of the of the book you can she the growth. They are different at the end of the book than they were are the beginning.

Just because I did not like this book doesn't mean I am not looking forward to Nadine's next book. Just because someone doesn't like one book by an author that your going to dislike all books by that author.


I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

So... this book wasn't my favorite, if you couldn't tell from the rating. It has a really interesting plot, but it just didn't work.

- The characters were canned, boring, and had no personality. Especially Thomas Fawkes, the main character and narrator. I honestly couldn't have told one character apart from another, and I didn't especially like any of the characters. Even Emma Areben, who most people seem to like, wasn't that much more interesting to me than the rest of the characters. As for the actual people involved in the plot, I didn't really see any of them as Thomas's "friends," even though that's how he kept referring to them. Oh, and Thomas's relationship with his father? That's practically nonexistent, and I really wasn't a fan.

- The color powers were just confusing. Essentially, in the world of Fawkes, people obtain magic by using color power. They essentially bond with a color of their choice and Keepers bond with only one color while Igniters tap all the colors through their use of White Light. But that still doesn't explain how exactly color power works on multicolored objects, or where color power comes from at all. Apparently, people are supposed to use their masks to get color power, but you can only get a mask made by a mother (if you're a woman) or a father (if you're a man) who can also use color power. Which didn't really make sense to me because the magic was also in the blood of Igniters, and also what happens if one of your parents isn't around for any reason? There were just so many plot holes in how color power is addressed and explained.

- The war between Keepers and Igniters also had me confused. The Keepers represent the Catholics and the Igniters the Protestants in one of the many wars of religion in 17th-century England (Kirkus), and I got that. And I love history (the wars of religion was one of my favorite topics when I was studying European history in high school), so I was super interested to find out how Brandes would represent the Catholic-Protestant conflict, but... there's no logic to the way she represents it. There's really no difference between the Keepers and the Igniters, and it's just so ill-explained I wasn't even invested in either side or in the war at all.

- The way race was discussed in this book comes from a good place, but it essentially ended up being explained in a very simplistic way. This book essentially says, "racism is bad," but it doesn't even scratch the surface in discussing how the daily lives of black people in England were affected, despite featuring black characters. The book's discussion of race also focused almost entirely on Thomas's reaction as a white person to Emma's blackness, which I found disappointing as a woman of color. I think that this kind of narrative can work in some situations, but it just didn't here, and I think the book would have been a lot more interesting had been from Emma's perspective. Although I must say I was glad to see a YA fantasy that features characters of color that are depicted in a positive light!

- Oh, yeah, and the instalove? Just no. I don't like instalove, and although there wasn't a ton of romance in this book, the little that was there was all instalove.

+/- The only kind-of positive is that the last twenty or so pages were engaging, but then again, that's twenty pages out of a three-hundred-something page book. The climax was really interesting, and explored a little about how both sides (Keepers and Igniters) had their flaws, but ultimately, it seemed like one side was seen as more "right" than the other, which, given the religious allegory, seemed inappropriate. The rest of the book wasn't that engaging either--it was mostly all the same stuff repeated over and over--and unfortunately I was kind of bored throughout.

I know this review has been pretty negative, and I don't like writing negative reviews, but I really wasn't a fan of Fawkes. I've heard better things about Brandes's other books, though, so maybe I'll try those when I get to the bottom of my endless TBR pile. If you pick up Fawkes, I hope you end up liking it better than I did. 1.5/5 stars

It's a little hard for me rate this book because I'm torn over my feelings for it. Fawkes for me was what I like to call an "up and down" book. This means that I would really enjoy parts, but then I would start to get bored. However, right before I would reach the point where I would just quit the book out of boredom, something would happen that would draw me back in. So while I ultimately enjoyed the book and I'm glad that I made it all the way through, there were enough parts throughout that didn't hold my interest and that made me consider just putting the book aside for good that marred the reading experience for me a bit. However, I do want to add that I really did enjoy the author's writing style and if/when she publishes another book in the future, I would definitely be willing to check it out!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley & the publisher for a digital copy of the book for review.

When it comes to historical fiction, I can be very picky but the book boasting a fantastical retelling of the infamous Gun Powder Plot had my immediate attention. When I started reading, I had some trouble with the slow pace and the vague details surrounding the existence of Color Power in this fictional world. However, once I got more & more details, I settled in for the ride and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The plot follows Thomas Fawkes, estranged son of the famous soldier, Guy Fawkes. In a world where the elite harness a magic called the color power & control objects with particular colors using coordinating masks, Thomas has been studying to receive his mask (usually administered by a parent or guardian) while also hiding a secret; he is suffering from the Stone Plague (fun take on the actual plague!) which is gripping England and growing in strength. On the eve of his masking ceremony, it appears that his father will not be sending a mask. Expelled and feeling heartbroken, Thomas sets out to look for his father in London to force him to provide him with a mask but instead ends up embroiled in an assassination plot, discovering a shocking truth about the plague and so much more!

My favorite thing about the book was Thomas's character development. In the beginning he came across as annoying and whiny but he quickly proves himself resourceful and a deep thinker. His relationships with the other characters are used as an instrument to convey a number of ideas regarding individuality, integrity, faith & belief in a cause and even race & politics. The book is divided into three portions and due to the slow moving plot, the writing seems to drag a bit in the first half of the book but then the pace picks up in the other half and I honestly wanted to keep reading.

I think the author has accomplished an amazing feat of merging together fact & fiction in this story. It's true that not much is known in detail about Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators, but Brandes seamlessly includes her characters and ideas while still maintaining the integrity of many of the actual occurrences. Which is why I thoroughly enjoyed the concluding parts of this book.

The author announced on her Instagram that she'll be doing a Princess Anastasia re-telling titled Romanov next, and I'm already looking forward to that!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars