My rating: ⭐⭐
From the cover:
"Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But genderfluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper class - and the nobles who destroyed her home.
When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of the Left Hand - the Queen's personal assassins, named after the rings she wears - Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge
But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive."
FYI before we get started: I'll be using she/her pronouns for Sal since that is what the description defaults to.
Story time. I just bought a book journal, and I was SUPER excited to start writing in it. SO PUMPED. The journal happened to arrive at the beginning of April, and this book happened to be the book my book club is reading in April, so it made sense for this to be the first book I included in my awesome new journal. I drew a little sketch of my version of the cover ("my version" meaning it isn't very good), I wrote down the title, and I had all my pens and markers ready to record favorite moments and quotes and such.
And...
And...
It was a real struggle to come up with anything to add to the journal.Because y'all...I did not love this book.
I wanted to. The premise is interesting, the cover is beautiful, and I was looking forward to reading it. But it was all so very "meh" for me. Everything about it was underdeveloped. Sal is a great thief...based on...the fact that the book tells you she is, I guess, because (spoiler, I guess?) she steals someone's purse with the flyer about Left Hand auditions in it in chapter one (speaking of...why did some noble lady have a flyer about the Left Hand auditions in her purse?) and has murdered her super powerful and intimidating boss and headed off to the audition by the end of chapter three, so there is literally no world-building or character development to introduce you to Sal or this world.
We get to chapter four, where auditions begin, and it's like "WHOA. This is super serious, a fight to the death. I am but a simple street thief, I'm not prepared for this!" But after the first day, no one really messes with Sal (at least not in any way that made me nervous at all). And while we're talking about the auditions, Sal pretty much sucks at everything...but is leading the pack from the get go? I don't buy it, my friends. Nah.
Then the Big Reveals start. But they aren't big reveals, because...oh yeah...we don't know anything about Sal, her motivation, or this world! If you want me to be like "GAAAAASP, this guy is at court?!" then maybe like...tell me about that guy first? Same with the romance between Sal and the "intriguing scribe at court." There was so little build-up that it all seemed forced and stilted. Even the other auditioners are barely developed, which is a huge let down given that the bulk of the story revolves around auditions. Honestly, the only characters I felt had enough personality and development for me to connect with them were Maud and Ruby.
Ultimately, while I wanted to enjoy this book, it was a drag from start to finish. I struggled to get into it, and finishing it felt like running a 5k through water. Pass.
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