"If you enjoy a little grimdark in your fantasy, strap in and take a shot at No Heart for a Thief.
James Dulin's debut is grim and imaginative, with characters you'll enjoy thoroughly, an original storyline, a lovely magic system that's well explained, and some top notch worldbuilding.
I thoroughly enjoyed the action and the magic system!
This book is largely about colonialism, and very definitively told from the point of view of the suffering of those being colonized. The cultures involved aren't specifically those of any real-world cultures, but the experiences of the victims are very much taken from a range of real-world examples. This makes this a fairly brutal read, though thankfully James avoids the worst of the triggering content he could have easily added (there is really no SA and the brutality could have been much more graphic). It's still a grim tale, light on hope and pleasantry.
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"Now, I'm not going to lie, I didn't think I was going to like this one. My husband chose it when I challenged him to choose my February TBR.

The book is set in Ennea, a beautiful land which has been invaded by the Gousht empire (absolute bastards!). There was so much about this that made me uncomfortable. The way the natives are treated by the Gousht was upsetting to read, especially because it's oh so close to reality.

The story follows Kaylo, a recluse known as the Hero of Anilace, but also as Ennea's thief. He rescues a young girl called Tayen from some Gousht soldiers and ends up taking her under his wing. I adored the parts of the book that were showing their relationship blossoming, and I wish we'd stayed with them more.

The majority of the book is Kaylo's back story, and as you read about his past, you learn so much about the world, the people, and the magic system, which is both spiritual and elemental. The way that it's written is wonderful, and I felt the tough topics were approached with care.

Even though there's a war going on, that is kept to the background and the fact that this wasn't all fighty and war is something that I massively appreciated, as that is what I tend to dislike about fantasies.

I really loved this book and the characters. It's written beautifully and definitely one that I'd recommend. But do check trigger warnings first."

"⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 / 5

A vivid world and magic system, promising writing style, and strong cast of characters - but unfortunately this book was dragged down by the overly slow pacing / lack of engaging plot points.

I had high hopes for this book when I first started it, because the writing was quite beautiful and flowed well. I was surprised by how character-driven this book was - barely anything happens at all in terms of actual plot, but the characters and their relationships are deep, believable, and well-developed. The world is vividly described and immersive, and the magic system and different gods were well-explained and enjoyable to learn about (although some of the details and commentary became pretty repetitive).

LISTEN, I’ll choose well-developed characters over a plot-heavy approach any day, but even with a character-driven story, there needs to be the story part. I got to the end of this book feeling like I read a small fragment of a book that was stretched out to take up a whole novel. While I do feel I got a deep understanding of Kaylo and saw some great character and relationship growth from both him and Tayen, the book just simply did not have enough going on (character-wise OR plot-wise) for me to stay engaged. I kept putting it down and having a hard time picking it back up and getting back into reading it.

This book also is very clear with its themes of religious intolerance and colonization, with the society in it mirroring a lot of our own world and history. The story JUST starts to explore these topics in a more unique and interesting way - and then it ends. Again, I was just left feeling unsatisfied.

Overall, a very promising author, often beautiful prose, and great character development - but just not engaging enough for me to consistently enjoy it while reading."