❝𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒏.❞
- Vow of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
**ATTENTION: Review contains minor spoilers.**
Genre: fantasy
Overall rating: 5/5 stars
# books in series: #2 of 2
Song: "I Know Places" by Taylor Swift
My review:
If you thought Dance of Thieves (#1 in series) was good, prepare to be blown away by Vow of Thieves.
This book was such a rich fantasy that kept me riveted the entire time and provided a stunning, solid conclusion to the duology. I think the pacing was a lot better than Dance, which makes sense because we're already familiar with the world and characters. There's an abundance of fighting, kissing, stabbing, explosions, angst, revenge, betrayal... if that doesn't pique your interest, I honestly don't know what will.
❝𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓.❞
I also really appreciated the fact that with all the conflicts in this story, Kazi and Jase's relationship wasn't one of them. I feel like often fantasy series fall into the trap of skipping the third act breakup and putting it in the second book instead, which is just as annoying. Not Mary Pearson: she managed to avoid it altogether. She did keep Kazi and Jase apart for most of the book, and while I don't really enjoy that choice in some cases, it definitely worked here. The main plot of the book is driven largely by their desire to get back to each other, without once doubting that the other will have 'lost interest' or 'found someone else'. It was so refreshing. And when they were together, they had the sweetest scenes.
❝...𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝑲𝒂𝒛𝒊 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.❞
Even for however much I love them, the side characters truly shone as well. Wren and Synové are every strong, snarky YA heroine we all wished to be; the Ballenger family played an interesting, multifaceted role; Paxton's redemption arc was beautiful to witness; and the Remnant Chronicles crew came through with their sweet cameo at the end.
I really enjoyed as well the fresh take on the found family trope, where the Ballenger clan - already related by blood - take in Kazi to be one of them with all the growing pains and adaptation required. It really shows character development splendidly, for all of them but especially Kazi herself. she's very clearly not the same girl as the beginning of the duology.
❝𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.❞
All in all, Vow of Thieves is an outstanding conclusion to the duology, with realistic yet lovable characters and breathless action.
READ IF YOU LIKE: big chaotic families, Kaz Brekker, soulmates who would die for each other in a heartbeat, overcoming trauma as a bonding activity, explosions, when the handsome, dark haired villain is NOT part of a love triangle because the FMC is too smart for that, sage cakes, and satisfying endings.
Have you read this series? What did you think?