Stolen City by Elisa A. Bonnin

The Legend trilogy is one of my favorite dystopian/fantasy series and this book gave me such wonderful Legend vibes! It had the same kind of strong, fleshed out and morally grey characters and the same kind of creative and unique world building, plus a thrilling magical heist plot. I’m definitely hoping for a sequel to this magical and engaging story!

Stolen City is a character driven fantasy story told from four perspectives – the two twin thieves and mages Arian and Liam, the weaver Cavar and Zephyr, the former royal knight turned traitor – and takes place in the city of Leithon which is under Imperial occupation. Arian steals magical artifacts for the Resistance, whereas Liam mostly tries to heal his wounds and not draw any attention to him. Zephyr made a choice that she has to live with and that made her hated by most of her former friends and family, but she had her good reasons for it. When the mysterious Cavar approaches the twins with a job offer, it will set a string of events and revelation in motion that will change all of their lives.

I did enjoy the four POVs, but it made it take a little longer to get into the story and start rooting for all of the characters and to fully understand all of their backgrounds, past griefs and traumas, and reasons behind their actions. I immediately took Cavar to my heart – I loved his sarcasm and wit and his tender heart. I also loved Arian for being so headstrong and badass, but it took longer to warm up to Zephyr and Liam. But now I’m most excited to follow their storylines in the sequel (certainly there will be a sequel, right?)!

I also really enjoyed the complex and unique world building, with the occupied city where magic has been outlawed, but is smoldering in the background and you know it cannot be kept at bay for much longer. There were a lot of twists and surprises when magic started to come into play and old generational traumas and secrets were revealed. There was also so much entertaining court politics and intriguing family secrets, and the writing style as very witty and action filled. I really enjoyed following how the resistance kept growing stronger by each heist (there was a lot of wonderful Robin Hood and Six of Crows vibes in the way the resistance kept foiling the imperial rulers). I would have loved to get a little more backstory to the weavers and the clans, but hopefully that will come in a following book…

All in all, Stolen City was a wonderful new YA fantasy with magical heists and thievery, a unique world building and amazing fleshed out characters each with their own struggles. There were also some really sweet romances, as well as new and past heartbreaks, that kept you invested all the way through. Highly recommended to fans of Legend or Six of Crows, and I can’t wait for a sequel!

Thank you to Xpresso Tours and NetGalley for the free review copy and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Author info:
Elisa A. Bonnin