So much fun! Reminiscent of Scott Lynch, for one, but skewing a little younger -- which makes sense as the main character is a teenager with serious trust issues. This book has a twisty-turny plot, a great cast of characters, and pretty solid fantasy world building. Is it a perfect book? No; the pacing is a little weird towards the end, and the social structure of the city of Teranis could be fleshed out more. But it's super entertaining and the author is apparently quite young. There are a million questions to which I still want answers, regarding the magic system, the big "rasa" question, and just little detail things, like, does Ashes ever repay that bookseller?!? I hope there's a sequel in the works.

"For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Scott Lynch, a fantasy about a clever young beggar who bargains his way into an apprenticeship with a company of thieving magicians and uses his newfound skills in a vendetta against a ruthless crime lord.

Ashes lives in Burroughside—the dirtiest, most crime-ridden district in the huge city of Teranis. His neighbors are gangs of fellow orphans, homeless madmen, and monsters that swarm the streets at nightfall. Determined to escape Burroughside, Ashes spends his days begging, picking pockets, and cheating at cards. When he draws the wrath of Mr. Ragged, Burroughside’s brutal governor, he is forced to flee for his life, only to be rescued by an enigmatic man named Candlestick Jack.

Jack leads a group of Artificers, professional magicians who can manipulate light with their bare hands to create stunningly convincing illusions. Changing a face is as simple as changing a hat. Ashes seizes an opportunity to study magic under Jack and quickly befriends the rest of the company: Juliana, Jack’s aristocratic wife; William, his exacting business partner; and Synder, his genius apprentice. But all is not as it seems: Jack and his company lead a double life as thieves, and they want Ashes to join their next heist. Between lessons on light and illusion, Ashes begins preparing to help with Jack’s most audacious caper yet: robbing the richest and most ruthless nobleman in the city.

A dramatic adventure story full of wit, charm, and scheming rogues, The Facefaker’s Game introduces an unforgettable world you won’t soon want to leave."

I feel in love with the cover, the description just sold me all the more.

If you like books from Scott Lynch or V.E. Schwab or J.K. Rowling then this is kind of your book.

But there is too much lying and not trusting and making stupid mistakes be course of that. And even if all ends well at the end, it all was so strange. The main character Ash is supposed to be somewhere around fourteen and his mentor Jack should be somewhere around thirty, but they both act like teenagers. And the story is not very logical. The story is jumpy and I often had a feeling like this must be sequel to something, or there must be a prequel to the series, that I have missed, and even the prologue is from totally another opera.

The story is interesting, it just should be bit more thought through.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting this book to be amazing. It's a debut novel, and while it sounded interesting from the blurb, I wasn't 100% sold. Then I started reading the book.

Slow to get off the ground, after about fifty pages I found myself flying through the chapters, eager for more. Ashes, an orphan boy who has only himself to take care of him is a thief and a swindler; he's quite good at what he does. Hidden away is another boy, Blimey, that he cares for. Above them all is the man in charge of their borough, someone who's cruel and cunning and has his fingers in every pie (or so it would seem).

So far it's... Interesting, but not exactly captivating. Once Jack comes in, that changes everything. Jack can do magic, REAL magic, and takes Ashes under his wing because he sees something in him. Now is when the intrigue, the good dialogue and character development, and storytelling really begin.

I really hope Birch writes a followup soon, because there were many unanswered questions at the end. I think this could be the start to a great series.

Solid fantasty debut for, in my opinion, a young-ish reader. The world-building is solid and tinged with just the right amount of menace and danger, although I found the "rules" about the magic in Teranis a bit squishy around the edges; but the protagonist is a tween and with that comes some restrictions on his friendships, behavior, and emotional responses. It's a bit simplistic - which is both a positive and a negative depending on what you're looking for - and that lead to some frustration. But, I'd recommend for the young reader looking to expand their fantasy book shelf, especially as this looks to be the beginning of a series.

I have zero complaints about this book.
I have to admit, I didn't start it with extremely high expectations. A debut novel from a (very) young author that I'd never heard of, talked up by the publisher as "for fans of Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch." My attitude was something like, "Yeah, I've heard THAT kind of claim before. But sure, I'll give it a try."
Well, this time, the blurb claim is actually true.

Birch gives us a fantasy reminiscent of Oliver Twist: The boy known as 'Ashes' is a Burroughside 'rasa': a gamin who knows nothing of his past, scraping by as a beggar and a thief in the worst neighborhood of the city of Teranis. His nemesis is the nasty Fagin known as Mr. Ragged, a petty crimelord for sure, but one who looms large in the fears of the children under his thumb.

But then, Ashes' path crosses that of the man who calls himself Candlestick Jack. Jack is a magician - but also a con man and thief who subverts and circumvents the rules of the guilds governing the use of magic, at every turn. It turns out that Ashes might have some talent for magic - and Jack sees that there might be some utility to training an anonymous Artificer.

What follows is a dramatic and twisting caper, as each character follows their own agenda in the pursuit of their own goals, and honesty appears only almost as an accident...

A thoroughly entertaining story, strongly written. I'll definitely be following this author.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. As always, my opinions are solely my own.