Synopsis

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir (POV Character) is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city's most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads

Review

In an alternate setting that takes place in what can be paralleled to western prohibition times and includes a vampire underworld, to say I was both intrigued and hesitant going into this one is an understatement. Add on top of all of that that this has a heist concept, and Faizal set herself up for a difficult plot to execute.

Boy, did she though!

The main plot (which is where the heist to get the ledger from the Athereum comes in) was supplemented superbly by subplots relating to each POV character’s personal journeys. And these personal journeys each diverted into different branches of the society Faizal has built, allowing it to settle organically within the readers mind. I mean, the author did a lot here, but pulled it off so well that, until I sat down to write my review, I didn’t realize quite how much depth this novel had.

There are heavy themes of colonialism, colorism, and racism, but they are broken down in a manner that feeds teens these heavy notions in bite-sized pieces. And though White Roaring exists in a different world to our own, the parallels are obvious, giving readers a chance to draw conclusions about the history we ourselves sit within.

Arthie was a formidable character. She’s cold and edged and cutting and angry, and she’s willing to shove others into the crossfire of a city-wide conflict in order to save herself and her found family. Her story is built from a childhood of bloodshed and survival, and she’s carried this trauma with her into the tiny empire she’s built within White Roaring. Arthie is not a hero, and she shouldn’t be mistaken for one by readers. Despite this, we see her growth as she reflects upon the tragedy of her childhood and starts to let (very few and very specific) people into her heart. She was most assuredly my favorite character, closely followed by Jin, her partner in crime (literally). These two were easy to love, and I can’t wait to get more of their story.

I especially liked the end confrontation between Arthie and Laith. The actions taken by Laith’s character so often gets misconstrued in our society as chivalrous or heroic when, in actuality, they’re forms of control. Arthie strips the mask from both herself and Laith (who I do believe thought himself a type of vigilante-esque hero).

As the main plot and subplots intertwined, Faizal managed to incorporate twists that I believe will take most readers by surprise, and that will definitely grip teen readers new to the genre. Definitely a text I would recommend to students who can handle certain mature themes (see Content Note).

I listened to the audio narration by Maya Saroya. Though I would not have been able to distinguish character POVs by the inflection of the narrator’s voice alone, Saroya did a great job of bringing the emotion of the characters to life.

Critiques

Only three critiques, but they impact a good portion of the text:

As with any heist novel I pick up, I expected pacing issues, and I received them. It’s difficult to balance the plotting of the heist, the execution of the heist, the (inevitable) obstacle thrown in to break apart the careful plotting of the heist, the conclusion of the heist, and the final chapters that come after the heist, all without falling into monotony or repetition. The formula is not easy to pull off, and Faizal didn’t quite manage. Especially with the popularity and execution of Bardugo’s Six of Crows, authors writing a heist have to be weary of the inevitable comparisons that will happen. The pace comes slow for the first two-thirds of this novel, which I don’t quite mind because the characters do well on the page and I liked their personal journeys. Then, we speed through to the end of the novel. It wasn’t jarring, but it did need some more revision time.

We get three POV characters (Arthie, Jin, and Flick). While Arthie and Jin were standouts on the page, Flick fell to the wayside. Her POV was needed and enjoyable, but she felt flat compared to the other two. If I were to guess, I would say that Faizal felt more emotionally connected to Arthie and Jin than she did to Flick, because there was less ardor from her. The writing pulled me a step back from Flick when her chapters came up, whereas it drew me a step closer to Arthie and Jin in theirs.

As with most YAs, there is a bloom of romance in the side-plots. Laith and Arthie have an instant attraction, which comes into play regarding character growth for the FMC. No qualms there. What did scrunch my nose was the relationship between Jin and Flick. We can intuit that there is history between these two that the readers only get snippets of, therefore this does not fall into an insta-love situation. But there doesn’t seem to be true depth to the bond. If asked why they like one another, I wouldn’t have an answer. I’m not sure what purpose a romance between them served, seeing as it didn’t add much of anything to the story or their character arcs.

Content Note

Due to the setting and the time period, guns are used as weapons within this novel (alongside knives and swords and fangs). There are multiple instances of guns being fired (by and at) main characters with the intent to hinder or maim, and some instances are successful. There are also multiple instances of guns being fired (by and at) main characters with the intent to kill, and some of these instances are successful.

You can find more content warnings at the Trigger Warning Database.

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