The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green

My Friday reading tips this week is the wonderful, adorable and adventurous The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green.

This is the first book in a new series that takes place in a fantasy world that resembles Game of Thrones quite a bit, with fights for power, wars between kingdoms and a magic twist with demons and the hunting for demon smoke. The story is told from five different POVs; Princess Catherine, royal guard Ambrose, servant March, thirteen-year-old demon hunter Tash and thief and royal bastard Edyon.

Five POVs might seem a little too much, but I really loved all of these different POVs and how they made the story more dynamic and interesting. I didn’t connect that much with March and Edyon, but I absolutely adored the two strong female main characters Princess Catherine and demon hunter Tash, as well as the honorable and gorgeous Ambrose!
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I just have to be clear though, that this series is very different from Sally Green’s previous the Half Bad series. I loved that series so much, and had hoped for something similar when it comes to the writing style and sense of rawness, but The Smoke Thieves is more of a traditional fantasy. Very good, but nowhere near the uniqueness of Half Bad.

The writing, the characters and the plot was really good and there was a lot of action going on. I especially loved Princess Catherine’s character and how she adapted to living in a world of female oppression without losing her fierceness and self-confidence. I also really shipped the romance between her and Ambrose, even if the ending of the book hinted to that romance probably being challenged by Prince Tzsayn in the sequel. (I really liked Prince Tzsayn too, so I’m not too depressed by that fact though.) And demon hunter Tash was such a badass, strong and shining character, it was impossible not to fall in love with her completely. I’m so eager to know what Sally has in store for her in the sequel, it really feels like there is so much more to explore for her character-wise.

All in all, I really enjoyed this wonderful book and am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, dying to know what will happen to the characters!

I give this book 4.5 magical stars!

Find out more about the book and the author here: Sally Green