Uptown Oracle Reads… City of Bastards

City of Bastards
Andrew Shvarts

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Tilla, bastard of House Kent, has it made. Safe from her murderous father in the dazzling capital of Lightspire, she lives a life of luxury under the protection of the Volaris King, alongside her boyfriend Zell and best friend, Princess Lyriana. So why isn’t she happy? Maybe it’s the whispers and stares that follow her wherever she goes, as the daughter of the traitor waging war against Lightspire. Or maybe it’s the memories of her beloved brother, Jax, who lies cold in his grave even as she tries to settle into a life in the city’s prestigious University. Then, Tilla stumbles upon the body of a classmate, a friend. The authorities are quick to rule it a suicide and sweep it under the rug, but when Tilla herself is attacked by a mysterious man with terrifying powers, she’s convinced of a conspiracy. Her friends beg her to stay silent; what she’s suggesting is impossible… and treasonous. But Tilla can’t, won’t, let it go. And the deeper she digs, the more questions she uncovers. How is the West beating the supposedly invincible Lightspire Mages in battle? Is it connected to the shadowy cult wreaking havoc in Lightspire? Nothing is as it seems in the glorious capital, and Tilla’s presence might just be the spark that sets the Kingdom aflame.

After reading Royal Bastards I immediately emailed to be asked to be on City of Bastards review list because I loved it so much. I just felt like I had to know what happened – and this was at a time where a lot of the books I was reading weren’t making me feel this way.

Lightspire was main setting of this book – much different from the nomadic travelling of the first. World building was written well to make Lightspire out to be a beautiful, elegant, and magical city. You could imagine an almost elvish style kingdom at times – and it fits well in common fantasy places. This meant we’d left the ‘adventuring’ in the first book – which meant less exploration of the wider world. But despite this, the world building was just as good as the first book, just more in depth than expansive over different areas.

I felt that the magic was fleshed out in a lot more detail in City of Bastards. The first book was more action/adventure as they try to get to Lightspire, but once they got there – it seemed to shift magic fantasy into a higher gear.

The books have some great themes of each of our main characters needing to grow into adults who make their own decisions. There’s snippets of innocence and naivety from characters, and then tough lessons for them to learn – which is perfect for the older audiences of ‘YA’, whilst also being relevant to adults reading too.

There’s also some tough themes which need trigger warnings such as suicide. Good pacing throughout and it started getting more tense towards the end as even more action scenes were happening.

I’d say it’s more for people who enjoy world building, a bit of politics and schemes happening in the shadows. This is purely because it’s not as action packed as Royal Bastards.

The second book also left off making me want more – and so I am excited to read the third book too.

Positives

• Magic system
• Good pacing

Negatives

• Only in Lightspire

I received City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review