I once wrote a single paper on the Crystal Palace and the Great Exhibition so yes, I was in fact fully prepared for this heist.

I think the day MK Lobb writes a book I don't like will be the day I give up reading for good. Because this is her third book and the third I have absolutely adored. The Seven Faceless Saints duo was good but this is already shaping up to be even better. I mean, a historical fantasy with magical weapons, a unique and clever heist, a cruel and shady villain, and two main characters who are always fighting but you're begging them to kiss mid-argument anyway? It's everything I wanted. And that ENDING?! I am hurt, wounded, in eternal agony. How I am supposed to wait so long to see what happens next, I do not know. Just pray for me that I survive until then.

This was so GOOD and also so stressful, I could not stop reading once I started!! Zaria and Kane's relationship is so fun to read about, and without spoiling anything (OMG) I cannot wait to see where they wind up in book 2. I liked that we got both their POVs as well. Kane especially has my heart, he has been through the absolute ringer and he deserves to behave badly (in my professional opinion). The magic system and the heist were both very cool and worked well together. Finally, the historical setting was so well done: I love the Victorian era and you could tell a ton of research went into this, but there was also enough of a fantasy element that it didn't feel loaded down with information. Thanks to the publisher for the early review copy!

no one is more disappointed in this rating than me. a historical fiction book and a fantasy book AND a heist book sounded like the perfect book for me. WRONG! this book is not historical fiction. yes, it does have a historical setting, but the characters are not historical. the main characters feel like modern people randomly thrown into a historical setting. you can’t just write modern feeling characters and slap them into a historical setting and call it done. that is just sloppy world building. why spend all this time researching the time period to make it historically accurate to then to not make your characters match?? just go make up your own world if you’re going to pull bullshit like this! don’t play fucking games with me.