An Illusion of Thieves Book Review

Title: An Illusion of Thieves
Author: Cate Glass
Genres:Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: TOR Books
Publication Date: 2019
Number of pages: 352
Trigger warnings: child slavery, sexual assault, violence, alcoholism

Synopsis:
This book is set in a place called Cantagna where a death sentence is given for being a sorcerer.

Romy had a hard childhood and leaves to become a courtesan to the Shadow Lord who claims to be allowing everyone to share the comforts and benefits that were once only given to the wealthy. Romy's brother Neri, uses magic to steal and when he is caught, Romy must do everything she can to help him.
Now back in Beggar’s Ring, she has just her wits and her own long-hidden sorcery to help her and Neri survive. But when a plot to overthrow the Shadow Lord and incite civil war is uncovered, only Romy knows how to stop it. To do so, she’ll have to rely on newfound allies—a swordmaster, a silversmith, and her own thieving brother. And they'll need the very thing that could condemn them all: magic.

My thoughts:
I was really interested in reading this book. The premise sounded intriguing. However, the writing disrupted my involvement in the story. It felt slow and uninteresting. I couldn't tell you much of what happened because I just forgot what I had read half of the time. There were also times when I felt that the dialogue was unnecessarily offensive.

Our main character, Romy is originally the mistress of the Shadow Lord, before she is dismissed. Romy possesses magic and is forced to hide this. Before entering the courtesan, Romy was sold as a child and lived a hard life. I didn't expect some of the content in this book and I wish that it had been labelled more clearly.

I liked how magic was described in this book, with the different characters depicting how magic felt to them. The use of magic was nice to see, for example, through being able to create doors to walk through walls. I just wish that the rest of the book had been as magical.

Overall, this book just wasn't for me. However, if it sounds interesting to you then you may find a new good read (there are many positive reviews on Goodreads)!

*This book was kindly sent to me to review, however, all opinions are my own.