I think it wobbled a smiiiidge on the landing, a few things felt abrupt and/or undercooked, not to mention the jarring tonal shift into violence, but the ride to get there was super fun. There’s some fade-to-black, hand-wavey, don’t-think-too-hard-about-this energy re: the whole premature-inheritance, fix-a-broken-system-from-the-inside plan, but it is YA, and I wasn’t expecting an Akwaeke Emezi-level thesis on the subject of institutional power.
That said, I glommed it in a day and regret nothing. The banter is top-notch, the chaos is delicious, every single one of the core cast is a TREAT. (Yes, I’m counting Sidney and Agnes. And the cat.)
“What are you doing?” Gwen demanded.
“Crimes,” said Arthur, at the exact same time that both Agnes and Sidney said, “Nothing.”
Oh, and as Lex Croucher has done before, the friendships are even more satisfying than the romance—much more of that, yes please.