Review: Until We Shatter by Kate Dylan
Blurb:
An action-packed, epic heist fantasy from the author of Mindwalker, perfect for fans of Six of Crows, Master of One and Bone Crier's Dawn.
A desperate thief. An impossible heist. Survive . . . or shatter.
No matter where she goes, Cemmy's life is under threat.
The Church would see her killed for having any magic.
The Council of Shades wants her dead for not having enough.
So when her mother falls ill, Cemmy has no choice but to turn thief. And when she's offered a job that could solve all their problems, it's impossible to resist.
The catch? Cemmy will have to work with Chase - beautiful, dangerous, and full of secrets - to steal a powerful relic the Church has hidden within a deadly realm of shadows.
If she succeeds, Cemmy will finally be safe. But if she's caught, she risks igniting a spark that could destroy the city - and everyone inside . . .
Review:
Like many others who loved Mindwalker and Mindbreaker, I was super excited when Kate Dylan was sharing about a new book. (And not just because she also shares cat pictures with her books on IG.) I don't want to say it's not as strong as her other books because it's not the same vibe but it's hard not to compare them when I loved Mindwalker/-breaker so much.
Anyway, onto this book itself. I liked the world we were introduced to and I hope Kate does another book in the same world so we can explore the magic and politics more. I didn't totally follow all the magic types but essentially the full blooded magics are Shades, those without are typics and those with one parent of each are Hues. You have the faithless and the faithfull, which are pretty much the Council of Shades and the Church. Pretty straightforward and I really liked the set up. It set the stage for the standard group of misfits we all pretend we don't love when they appear in books/movies, and found family, which is a personal fav of mine.
Arguably this is also a perfect example of where things could be super quickly resolved if people just talked to each other. You kind of have to trust your safety to someone, fine it’s not by choice, but the issue remains. So maybe, juuuuust maybe, don’t keep every single card close to your chest? At least Cemmy did clock that eventually but at what cost!
My issues sort of sit with the actual heist. But let me start from the top here. In the blurb we have: So when her mother falls ill, Cemmy has no choice but to turn thief.
But we enter the story with Cemmy’s mother already ill and quite ill from the read of things. She’s already turned into a thief so there’s not like a big bunch of background there. Her mother is ill, she’s stealing to keep afloat because both the Church and Council want her dead.
Moving onto: And when she's offered a job that could solve all their problems, it's impossible to resist.
She’s not really offered the job so much as voluntold it’s happening, or else. So I guess I can’t argue with the ‘impossible to resist’ part. It just felt like it was going to be something more along the lines of ‘If we steal “powerful relic the Church has hidden”, then we’re set for life.’ And that’s not really what’s going on.
The heist is big. I know it's compared to Six of Crows but this felt like really over the top for a heist and arguably a bit too easily resolved. Though I did like the phasing in and out of the realms done throughout. Also keeping in mind the whole thing takes place over the course of a week, it just felt...off. I think that also might be why I felt the romance sub-plot didn’t work as well. (As in the beautiful, dangerous Chase. Not the ‘my ex but we’re not quite over each other’ bit with Novi. I get that part. We’ve all made questionable choices where exes are concerned.) Then again Mindwalker and Mindbreaker were also over short periods of time and I had no complaints about that…Maybe things are different when you’re kind of a robot/cyborg. Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the book review this time.
There were some good twists and even better ‘Oh snap’ moments here. And that’s not a huge surprise since I feel like this is something that Kate knows how to do very well. I’d also say, it wraps up every end well, which standalones can be tricky about doing in a satisfying way. Even though I said I want more of this world and its magic and politics, if we get it, it won’t be about Cemmy because we’re good on her story now. And while I think there was something missing from Until We Shatter to make me fall in love with it like I did Kate’s other books, I am glad I met Cemmy and her friends for their impossible heist and series of questionable decisions. Hopefully other readers will also be glad to have met them, even if they want to slap some sense into a few of the characters.
