A-mazing

She had never been brave - But she'd always been angry. It would have to be enough.

This was one of my favourite reads so far this year. Especially towards the ending I was crying yelling screaming over the plot and character development.

Also. One of the main characters is a quirky corgi. What’s not to love????

mild spoilers ahead

Mer, our FMC, was taken from her family at a young age by the prince's spymaster to be used as a lean mean killing machine. This - unsurprisingly - shaped her into the bad-ass woman we read about today. She's stubborn to a fault, mistrusts almost everyone, has water magic and is constantly on the run from her own past. She's not depicted as inhumanly brave or heroic, mainly just angry and stubborn, which I personally loved because I could identify with her all the better.
Her relationship with the other characters, especially Renfrew, Fane and Ifanna were hostile at first yet truly heart-warming when you take a closer look.

"Will you kill me?"
Mer hesitated only a moment. "No. But I will hold you in place while I run."

Renfrew was the prince's spymaster and in a weird way filled the role of a father figure for Mer growing up. He was a cold-blooded killer, but Mer always managed to make him smile, which I found absolutely adorable. The conclusion to their relationship gutted me, but I 100% support it for the sake of the story.

"Understanding dawned in Renfrew's eyes. And he smiled."

Mer and Renfrew pick up Fane along the way and convince him to join their heist. I immediately shipped him and Mer. I had no right to, honestly, because there was no flirtation or tension, but there I was shipping them anyways. Fane had a hard childhood and made some bad choices along the way. He is so desperate to redeem himself and live a good life, you can't not love him IMO. He’s not unrealistically handsome or muscled, he’s just a normal guy with a big heart. He sits out half the fights, but is there when it truly matters, he doesn’t go back on promises AND he makes sure his Corgi is always safe.

”If you’d been free to choose. Who would it have been?” [...]
“When I met you,” he said, “you and Renfrew—only one of you bent down to greet my dog.”

Last but not least, we meet Ifanna. She’s a bad bitch if I ever met one. She’s the heiress to a thieves’ guild and won’t take crap from anyone. There is some bad blood between her and Mer at the beginning (though it wasn’t what I thought it’d be), but Ifanna truly grows throughout the story. She’s also the main source of comic relief during their heist and I’m totally here for it.

(about a magic cauldron/weapon)
”What is that thing? […] Does it make magic soup or something? Or perhaps you just hit your enemies over the head with it? […] Does it vomit boiling water at advancing armies? Mayhap make a terrible poison? Or maybe a very awkward battle helmet?”

The plot, for me, was at its peak near the end. Throughout the book we follow them on their way to perform a heist to weaken the prince's powers. It's all fun and games until you reach the actual summum of the heist and what comes after. I started crying when I had 4 chapters left to read and didn’t stop until I finished the book. Especially chapters 29 and 30 were really powerful.

”Well,” she rasped, “come on, then.”
bawling

I’m so glad this book came in the August Owlcrate box because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have come across it soon otherwise. I recommend this 1000% and won’t stop recommending it for a long time.