Synopsis
They killed her family. They ripped apart her home. But to repay her debts, she’ll have to sacrifice her innocence.
Robbed of everything she loves, Viola mourns the sudden loss of her mother. Now burdened with an impossible debt to the Night Guild, she’s forced to train as a cunning thief. Subjected to cruelty at every turn, the scrawny criminal apprentice vows to survive long enough to become the kingdom’s best.
Thrown together with unlikely allies, her burgeoning skills draw the attention of sadistic bullies and jealous rivals with dark intentions. But fueled by grief-filled rage, Viola won’t let anything distract her from preparing for The Guild’s most treacherous test.
In a cutthroat den of thieves, can Viola rise to power and outrun a brutal death?
Child of the Night Guild is the first book in the gripping Queen of Thieves epic fantasy series that’s not for the faint of heart. If you like grimdark battles, improbable heroines, and graphic scenes, then you’ll love Andy Peloquin’s unflinching coming-of-age tale.
Buy Child of the Night Guild for a pitch-black tale of a thievery today!
Warning: This book contains one scene of graphic sexual assault and is not suitable for all ages.
Review
The author very kindly sent me a copy of the book, and then with everything that happened with my quick move, I misplaced it. It’s definitely somewhere in my storage unit, which sadly houses my entire book collection, but I grabbed the audiobook to ensure I did get to it.
And DAMN! Peloquin is a solid storyteller. This is a grimdark tale that brought to mind notes of academia (with the Night Guild’s houses and names), the Thieves Guild from Skyrim, and Assassin’s Creed. A world where children are not useless but rather seen as a harnessable commodity, trainable income from the streets of Praamis. Produce or be disposed of.
A debt-ridden father, haunted by the loss of his wife and youngest daughter, offers his oldest, Viola, as a way to cover the debt. The Night Guild agrees, and just like that Viola’s world completely crumbles. As a young girl, and a small one at that, she must struggle through trials unimaginable, swallowing her grief, and working thrice as hard as the others just to get by. While teaming up with another scrawny trainee, she vows to do whatever it takes to survive, to prove everyone wrong.
Viola/Seven/Ilanna was a well crafted main character. Her stubbornness, perseverance, and hope (no matter how small) kept the reader’s eye on the horizon. I’d say it’s the biggest thing that kept much of this novel from feeling too grim. There is lightness in her will to not be extinguished, there is hope in how strong she holds herself. With that said, wow! I have seen reviews/comments of people saying I must hate my main characters, but holy moly this author just keeps the brutality coming. This is a coming of age story that could make just about anyone pessimistic or defeatist…not our main though! The integration of kindness when she finally gets mixed in with the other apprentices of House Hawk was a nice addition. The fact that she wasn’t sure if she should believe it or trust them even more deft.
The psychological torture displayed by Master Velvet to his tyros felt well researched (and heinous). These poor children being forced into hours of work before receiving water, the low protein, high sugar diet, the loss of their names and pasts, the fact that if they messed up or failed they went to bed hungry. Can’t forget the fact that they aren’t allowed outside either, no sun whatsoever. I appreciated the way this was all layered in, creating heavy believability. I did wonder though, how after so much trauma at the hands of those that had taken them in that more of them are not looking for revenge after they receive a modicum of freedom as apprentices or journeymen. But maybe some deep rooted Stockholm syndrome?
While much of this is training, which can be repetitive, the author show’s his strength by keeping the reader entwined with the hint of danger around every corner, and there is a lot of it. You really do go through each of the coming of age tropes, and with the attempted thieveries, this even feels like some “leveling up” tropes coming into play. Any time an author meshes genres or tropes of any kind, I feel like that’s when things truly shine. And this one did.
The ending, which I have seen some mixed reception of, I think was the final hammering to remind us all of how grim the world really is. While I am not a fan of SA scenes of any kind, the author did do well in skirting the “showing” while still delivering the harshness and hurt of the violation itself. And that I can accept for what it is. Ilanna’s quick revenge also offers a payoff that I feel was necessary, and it’s a reminder that if something is continuously coming for you in the city of Praamis, the only way for it to end is the removal of the obstacle wholly.
Grim, dark, and even shockingly brutal. Peloquin offers readers more than a glimpse at the depravity of his world, and yet there are still characters here to root for.
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