Love the stories of Mags and Amily. The Romeo & Juliet plot of this story twists and turns around accepted plot lines. Thankfully, there was not as much death in this story as there was in the original. Love to see Mags and Amily trying to make a difference in the city of Haven. Really like how Mags was able to take over a thieves gang of children and make them his informers, giving them a future. The start of a new sub-series in the Valdemar books, picking up where the Collegium books ended with Mags being sent out into the world to start finding his place. Lightweight fantasy, but her real strength is in characterisation, and it was lovely to read the character development that's gone on with Mags and his friends. It was also a fast-paced adventure and I'll definitely look forward to the next in this set.
Better than a lot of the recent Valdemar books, not as good as some of her other recent work.
—dmaclio
Spoiler alertThe twists and turns in this series is just beginning.
—Missfantasyfreak
Could not put the book down until the end.
—bookworm