“With his mask and my sword,
we could subdue even the shadows.”

I wholeheartedly agree with the message this story sent. This book was beautiful and totally lived up to the cover. Stone and dark streets with sparks of flame and dawning light. I am only somewhat into historical fiction but this one had things that the genre has missing, like magic! So what if I am obsessed with magic? If you are a reader who usually sticks to historical fiction this book will be quite unusual. If you normally get somewhat bored with Historical fiction you may perhaps find that this one is not so boring. It did start off at a slow pace, but it was paced, things picked up around the two thirds mark and kept picking up from there on.

Thomas was a very interesting character and I really enjoyed him. Thomas felt real, his struggles were real. Sometimes I didn't like him much, but perhaps that is because most people would not be likable if you could be in their head. But I understood him and by the end he had changed a lot from the boy he once was. Emma was my favourite though. Strong and yet ladylike, she seemed to know just when to stand up for herself, and she didn't let anything get in her way. For spoilers sake I can't say more.

There were some cool twists, even if I did guess nearly all of them, though sometimes only shortly before they were revealed. Being historical fiction there is only so much that could change, but I felt like facts were woven skillful with a new and intriguing story. The world building was good, and the mix of magic/fantasy stuff with historical Victorian feel made it a book that certainly stands apart for its uniqueness.

Content wise, there were some gruesome bits. Colour magic can be quite dangerous, people died, fought and were plagued. I'm not a fan of blood going everywhere but most of it was necessary and cool where it related to the magic. The magic was cool, though not anything special as far as magic goes, but it made sense (and are there any other historical fiction books with magic???) I also really liked another aspect of the magic but again for spoilers sake I shall say no more.

I would totally recommend this book. Just don't go into it expecting either a typical fantasy or Historical fiction book, as it is quite different from both genres. Better not to expect anything and be surprised.