DNF at 58%

This book was weird...

The POVs alternate too quickly and it was hard to keep track of what was actually going on since the plot didn’t seem to have one straight direction. It instead felt like a bunch of moments in a world that I didn’t understand.

Speaking of, the languages and words used in this book can be incomprehensible at times. I don’t know if it was just because I was reading an eARC or if the finished book will be just as confusing, but I had trouble figuring out the dynamic of the setting and characters. And the plot summary didn’t really help all that much either...

The book didn’t start to get interesting until about halfway through, but by that point I was so frustrated and tired of reading it that I just had to DNF it for the time being.

I hope to finish this book eventually and give it a fair shot (especially since I’ve dedicated so much time trying to get through it), but for now I’m just not in the mindset to do so...

*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

DNF at 40%.

This is a prime example of the premise sounds incredible but the execution of the story leaves a lot to be desired. This plot itself is incredibly confusing, but needlessly so? There's great worldbuilding since I am a huge fan of mythology, but that was really all the story had going for itself. This is unfortunately a huge pass for me.

“𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐠𝐬. 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐒𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐄𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐖𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲.”—Lynne Bertrand

In a quarantined city of mile-high buildings, the streets are full of monsters, and people pass their entire lives indoors. No one has ever seen this city on a map. There are no animals within the wall shielding it. And an entire year passes between supply deliveries from the outside world. In the prime of their lives, teenagers are chosen from each guild building as runners, where they dwell on the rooftops, zipping from roof to roof among the clouds, playing pranks on each other, delivering supplies between guilds. They are the only form of connection in a city that may as well consist of a hundred ships on the water. When Errol Thebes, well known hero among runners of all guilds, steals a powerful weapon, uncommon in ever way, he learns exactly what kind of darkness lurks beneath the city.

Unique. Different. Fun. I wasn’t quite prepared for how much this story grew on me. In fact, I ADORED it! I was intrigued, curious, and fully entertained. We all have tales to tell, especially Odd Thebes, and what a tale he weaves! The world building is fascinating, centered around the runners who fly from roof to roof, carrying messages, supplies, and bridging the connection between each building. These dare-devils use zip lines to get around. They pull pranks, have contests, parties, and the weirdest customs! The world building was a little confusing at first because there are no info dumps. I believe this is why it got so many low ratings. But if you stick with it, the answers do come! And they are so satisfying! I loved the way it ended.

Within every person lives a beast. Some are rats, birds, and cats. Others are stags, panthers, and even dragons. Only the people living on the streets have any idea of this. Those living in the guild skyscrapers have no idea whatsoever. They are too disconnected from the streets. When a pair of knotting spikes is stolen, it is discovered that these spikes split a person open, ripping out their soul-animal, which crawling out of their chests. Fascinating, right?

“𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫...𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬. 𝐎𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

This story is told by the bard Odd Thebes, who also happens to be the jealous cousin to Errol Thebes, the city’s hero. His jealousy comes between them a few times. But I liked this. It showed severe flaws on his part. No one likes a perfect character. His storytelling is bunt and open. He is intelligent, speaks some twenty or more languages, is familiar with all the city slang. The perfect storyteller. I really liked his character and struggles.

There’s something dark happening in the city. What starts as a very tight scope, broadens. Everyone who lives in the city accepts things for the way they are. They have no idea of the darkness lurking beneath. They have no idea why they are quarantined for hundreds and even thousands of years. They know nothing of the world beyond. They live in mystery. But Errol Thebes rips everything apart when he finds himself on the streets below. He becomes the hero the city needs.

I cannot believe how much I liked this book! At fist, I thought perhaps it would be a two star. I read some reviews and got a bad feeling. But it had something that kept me interested. And by the 20% mark I was so intrigued! The story got better and better, told in snippets that wove together. I wanted to give this five stars but I think the little bit of confusion I experienced in the beginning doesn’t allow it. MY RATING: 4.5/5⭐️

Unfortunately I could not get into this story. There is definitely an audience out there for this story, but I was not a member. There was something about the writing that I couldn't get into.

No Rating

The premise of The City of the Uncommon Thief made me instantly add this one to my tbr. But I, unfortunately, couldn’t get past the first 15%.

From page one, this book was confusing and I tried to push through but the writing style was not for me. I would like to think I am well versed in Greek and Norse mythology, but this was a whole other level that I was not prepared for.

I understand the idea of mixing the languages but when a book becomes this difficult to understand right from the start, it’s hard to keep going. I felt defeated after the first chapter and as much as I tried to continue, I just couldn’t do it. The story was hard to imagine and was even more difficult to comprehend.

This unfortunately was just not the book for me. Thank you for allowing me to read it early.

Information: I will not rate this book on Goodreads as I do not rate books I do not finish. I will however rate this a neutral 3 stars on Netgalley as I don’t want to rate it negatively since I was unable to finish it.

Thank you to NetGalley and he publisher for an opportunity to read this book .

Unfortunately this book was not for me. The author’s writing style and language just didn’t work for me at all.

I’m sure there are those that may appreciate this book, but unfortunately I wasn’t one of them,

I really tried to get into this one, but after about 15% I knew that it had to be a DNF. I just did not get on with the dialogue at all. This book was confusing and weird, and not in the enjoyable way. I really wanted to enjoy this one, but unfortunately I couldn't even get through it.

DNFed

I couldn’t get into the story and I wasn’t invested in the characters. I couldn’t really place what was going on.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for allowing me early access to this book via NetGalley. Unfortunately, this is just not the book for me. However, I do want to preface this by saying take this review as you will considering I had to DNF this book.

I was really excited for aspects of Greek and Norse mythology as those are two topics I think are incredibly fascinating but that fascination did not carry over. I found this book to be extremely hard to get into and to even understand. I had a hard time telling who was the main character or knowing what was going on at all.. The world building is complex but way too complex for my tastes as I would rather not refer back to the index at every page trying to figure out what the characters were talking about.

I think a certain kind of reader could really enjoy this but at the end of the day it just wasn't something I could get into and I found it to draining to continue reading.

Unfortunately this didn't really work for me...

I think for me personally it was the way the information was just dumped on us and I really struggled in getting into it. The convoluted plot didn't help either which was sad because the synopsis sounded so interesting! I would feel myself reading entire chapters again and that took me out of the book.

Maybe others will have a better shot though! The writing wasn't necessarily bad it was just a lot to take in and nothing else really to work with.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing an arc in exchange for an unbiased review!

“We’re at the mercy of a fleet of strangers from a world which walls us in.”

This was a very hard read. The dialogue is a mixture of “languages” and “slang” that slow down the reading pace. It made connecting with the characters and understanding their persona difficult at best. There is an intricate thought process behind the world-building I found intriguing. A world of teen runners basically ziplining from errand to errand across vast abyss-like distances to meet quotas. I was drawn in by the idea of a quarantined city cut off from everything. I imagined this closed off world getting near the rationing stage of existence while raiders outside the massive walls caused chaos. But it wasn’t really that. I can’t exactly pinpoint what way the plot truly wanted to go. It veers in different directions pulling in ideas that didn’t always fit. I liked the tidbits pulled from old mythologies and the odd bits of humor splashed here and there throughout the read. There are some great quotable moments as well.

I appreciate the unique atmosphere the author was going for overall. This isn’t a novel I was able to connect with and enjoy a much as I would’ve liked to. I think a specific type of reader will be drawn to the story in these pages and embrace the dialogue and plot. I thank Penguin Teen for the opportunity to read this gifted digital copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I love high fantasy and City of the Uncommon Thief has a great premise; I loved the idea of a walled off city with a group of teens living among the rooftops, toiling towards their apprenticeship to the Guilds. Once I started the book, though, I found that this world I was so excited to delve in to was really confusing and despite the excitement I felt at the premise, it fell extremely flat and became so convoluted that it became unenjoyable. I’m not sure if there’s some obscure meaning that I missed or if there just wasn’t enough explanation of the world in which Errol and Odd were inhabiting that I just couldn’t fully see the plot? So much of it just didn’t make sense to me and I felt like I was always looking for some hidden meaning in the words and actions of the characters to try and suss out some understanding of the plot.

Despite my feelings on this book, I’m quite sure there are many who would enjoy it.

My thanks to Penguin Teen for gifting me this DRC in exchange for my honest review.

thank you to penguinteen and netgallery for the arc!

DNF... yeah... this one isn’t going to work out. i’m suffocated by the info-dumping and wildly confused...

This unique fantasy read super raw, and the world building was really out of this world. As I read, I pictured a lot of what The Matrix is like, and imagined a dark, unknown world, where there was life, and some hope. And let’s be honest, how many times did we have to watch The Matrix before we really understood it? Well I felt like that’s the case for this novel, It’s very intricate, lots happening.. BUT there’s something special there. The characters were unique, interesting, and complicated *for sure. I totally recommend this novel, to anyone who loves fantasy, and ready to read something different. Already looking forward to my reread of this novel. Pick it up today!

City of Uncommon Thief is not my typical go-to-read or genre preference. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There are several made up words that match the created world in this tale, which can make the reading challenging in the beginning. As you continue reading these words seem less and less important to directly translate to English.
In this book, readers meet Odd and Errol Thebes two cousins who are "runners" in an unnamed guild city. They seem content to race across the flies, tell stories, and play games that is until the iron spikes are discovered. Errol confesses to stealing the spikes which leads to secrets, love, courage, and fear being discovered.
Bertrand does an excellent job with character development and world creation. Although many things seem similar to ours in this world, they are also vastly different. This books has similar vibes to The Giver and Hunger Games, but it is also uniquely its own story. It may be a benefit to the reader to know some epic poems like Beowulf and Odyssey.
I would highly recommend this book and hope Lynne Bertrand will continue her tale of Odd, Errol, Jamila, and Leah.

The novel is about a quarantined city with different groups of people and the tension between them. There is the narrator, Odd, who is a runner on the roofs, but is also considered a bard who tells stories. When his cousin, Errol, is dropped to the ground, this unleashed certain events that will change the city!
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While I liked the characters of Odd and Errol, I thought the world that was created was quite complex and tough to follow. I did like the concept of life on the roof, and the love Odd had for classic stories, but I found it difficult to follow the story fully. Felt like a lot was happening and it was tough to stay immersed. I did like the parts where Errol was on the ground!
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CW: violence

The story was really intriguing if confusing due to really elaborate world building aspects. The plot was immaculate and the writing style was TO DIE FOR! I wasn't as invested in the characters as I usually like to be and found myself confusing who was who despite their names being pretty clear.

While I did find myself enjoying a lot about this book, ultimately I felt pretty confused throughout and still have some trouble describing what the book is actually about even after I’ve finished it. The style of the book was fun with Odd as “the bard” and telling both his story as well as his cousin’s, but I think a lot of the book just went over my head. Seeing as how this is aimed at teenagers, I’m not sure that the world was explained well enough for it to make much sense outside of the action portions of the book. It could be because I don’t have a lot of experience with the stories and myths this book takes inspiration from, but overall I felt frustrated throughout a lot of the book. It was definitely an entertaining read however, so I’m sure if you had that additional context it would be more enjoyable! Unfortunately I just don’t think this was the book for me.

Thank you to @NetGalley and @PenguinTeen for the #gifted eARC!

Overall: This book came down to a confusing tale that felt, well, half-baked.

Pros:
Cast of characters. This is more of a survival story than one following a particular protagonist so there is a cast of characters at center stage.

Cons:
The mythology related aspects. It keeps you at a distance as it references Greece, but without context clues for the unfamiliar to this world it feels half-baked.
World building. There are things within it the world-building did not make sense when combined within the world it overall become unclear in the story.
Unclear story-line. Yes, the primary aspect of this story is survival, but there continued to be a sense of confusion throughout it as to why the reader should feel feel anything or what was going on in the story itself.

1.5 stars

This book was so confusing. I simply could not follow what was going on in this book. The synopsis above is pretty unclear, and that's all I had to go into the book with - and that pretty much set the tone for the book.

One of the issues was the fact that the focus was on Errol, but he was not the narrator. Instead the narrator was a character called Odd, who was a cousin, I think? Not sure what Odd looked like, whether they were a boy or girl - or anything. Odd was just... there, narrating the story of his cousin, somehow getting all this info despite not being there.

With so little info on Odd, they were not an interesting character. What was their driving goal? Why were they invested in all this? What were they *doing* for most of it? It was so hard to be interested in a character I knew little about and only seemed there to narrate someone else's story.

Errol was also very confusing. I thought he vanished in the first few chapters, but then he just seemed to be there in and out with little explanation for the first 20%, and no one reacted other than "where have you been?" Eventually he was tossed off, and then there was a very confusing back and forth in third person and first person of Odd telling tales.

It didn't get any easier to follow after that, as I didn't understand why Errol was gone, what Odd's stake in it all was, to the point that I ended up skim reading the book in case it made more sense once it was all resolved. It didn't.

The only redeeming thing about this book, for me, was the world. The lines strung between the mile-high towers, and how that got them between was interesting. The food supply chain was also intriguing, however I couldn't work out the power structure in the city, which didn't make the plot any easier to follow.