Title: Diamond City
Author: Francesca Flores
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Format: NetGalley eARC

This summary gave me all the Six of Crow vibes, so of course I was going to read this book.

The tropes are sort of similar, but instead of a heist, this is a well-planned assassin attempt where things obviously keep going wrong, because how boring would it be if people died when you told them to, am I right?

Diamond City is a fast-paced, action-packed urban fantasy about a woman who came from nothing and is now trying to carve her way in a world that consistently reminds her that girls like her never win.

I mean, this book had me at female assassin. Everything after that was like the icing on the top of an awesome, stabby cake. While there were times it felt like the story dragged a bit, for the most part, it yanked me right along, wanting to know what was going to happen next, and I couldn’t help but fall for these characters.

❧ This book is packed with every bit of action you would expect from a book about an assassin. Strap in, because this one’s a ride.

There’s some harrowing fight scenes, some near misses, some amazing feats. Is it particularly believable? No. But, I mean, assassins. I still had fun going along for the ride with Aina, taking down people and creeping through the city. There’s all sorts of subverted expectations, murder, mayhem, teaming up and taking down.

This book is essentially one big heist trope with rival gangs trying to take each other out. Except instead of a heist, it’s a rescue/assassination attempt, and we get to ride along with this group of people who would really rather not together, thanks.

Unwilling teammates is pretty much one of my favorite tropes ever, because aren’t we all generally in life anyway? No one asked for Sharon in accounting. We’re just stuck with her, and now life is unbearable, but we’re still all hoping for that happy ending.

❧ Aina made for a really interesting protagonist, who was sometimes hard to root for, but also pretty easy to empathize with.

It was this really weird juxtaposition. Yeah, okay, slaughtering random people is probably wrong and definitely not recommended and likely to lead to trouble. Probably not something you should root for. Or so I’ve been told. But the journey Aina took to become an assassin, the history that landed her on that path, and her ultimate goal were all things that had me solidly rooting for her anyway. Just also maybe for a lower body count sometimes, too.

When you come from nowhere, you expect nothing. When you’re a nobody, it’s hard to become a somebody. So Aina’s struggle to do just that really endeared me to her all the more.

People love rooting for the underdog, right? And Aina’s, not exactly running scared with her tail between her legs. She’s taking charge and … taking lives? Yeah, that, too. She’s spunky and determined and doing what she needs to stay alive while dreaming bigger than she has any right to dream, and I loved that about her character.

❧ This cast of secondary characters was just so much fun and full of personality.

They each had their own personalities, of course, no two alike, and they definitely felt like they embodied popular tropes to me. Teo was the loyal, ride or die best friend. Ryuu was the noble with a heart of gold and maybe a secret or two up his sleeve. Raurie was the persecuted religious woman who just wanted to secure a better future for her people. By all rights, these tropes should’ve annoyed me, but they just … didn’t.

Ryuu was a big fluffy marshmallow and deserves to be protected and petted and hugged. And Teo? I fell in love with him the moment we met.

They were all just so easy to love, because their motives and desires were simple and things that most people want. It boiled down to being easy to empathize with, while still enjoying the different things the characters had to offer.

Plus, might I add, Teo sounds like me in every single Fable game I’ve ever played, which was an added bonus that had me cracking up:

❧ There’s such an interesting dynamic between Aina and Kohl, and I have feels about it, darn it.

What those feels are, I’m not quite sure, because they’re all complicated and confusing and squicky. From the moment Kohl is introduced, I knew I’d love his character, problematic aspects and all. Gosh, I’m predictable. So yeah, I can 100% see what Aina would see in him, too. Is this healthy? Haaaaa, no. But it’s realistic, and it provides some really interesting problems for the characters.

The thing I loved most about these characters is that they’re clearly equals … except Aina doesn’t know it yet, and Kohl does.

I like power dynamics. What can I say? The grittier and more convoluted, the better. I’m actually really looking forward to where this ends up leading and what this means for the characters because oh, what a dark and messy web we weave. Except … minus the spiders. Because on this one, I definitely agree with Aina.

❧ I feel like there’s something more going on with Kohl, and I absolutely love it, because I want to hate him so much, but I’m just so freaking curious about him.

You know, it’s like when you stumble across a wild animal stuck in a trap. It’s probably starving to death. Possibly has rabies or mange or something potentially fatal or at the very least uncomfortable that it’ll give to you. Almost certain that it’ll tear you apart if you get too close. But yet, you want to help it, to know how it got there, and it’s so stinking cute that how can you not?! Even though you know you shouldn’t.

That’s pretty much how I feel about Kohl. I think we’re meant to hate him, but I just … don’t. I want to understand him. I want to know his history, his motivation, his intentions. I find his character absolutely fascinating. Especially since he’s obviously holding back, and what sort of ruthless character would do that, hm?

❧ There are a lot of flashbacks in the story, but unfortunately, there was a lack of proper transition between the flashbacks and present.

We’re sitting in the present, chugging along, and suddenly Aina is reminded of something in her past, and boom, we’re there, and then equally as suddenly, we’re just … not. I got a little whiplash going back and forth, and I wish there had been some better demarcation so maybe I wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to follow and getting lost. Bearing in mind, though, this is an eARC, so there’s a possibility that this might be cleared up in the official release.

❧ I’m all for soft magic, but the magic system here is a little too vague for me, personally.

Wielders of magic have to be Inosen, which are followers of a particular religion, and they wield diamonds to channel their magic. Blood is also involved. Only diamonds, though. No other gems work. And oh, diamonds (and the magic, also) are banned. Why any of this is a thing, I don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine.

I loved the idea of this magic and really wanted to get behind it, but I just … couldn’t.

I needed something more to make sense of all these seemingly random, arbitrary restrictions on magic. Diamonds are also obviously important, and there’s a huge black market of them, but … why? The Inosen are comprised of the poor, lower class, who shouldn’t be able to afford diamonds anyway, yet somehow they do? There’s a startling amount of people who are barely remaining fed who own black market diamonds, despite them being one-time use and ridiculously expensive. And as far as I can tell, the only reason for the wealthy upper class to own them is to flaunt their wealth (you know, like they do) and to sort of rub it in the faces of the Inosen, I guess? I was very confused by the dynamic. I just wanted something more concrete about the diamonds and the magic.

❧ Aina’s character development felt like it stagnated for a while during the middle, to the point where it became repetitive.

At first, I liked her determination. Who doesn’t appreciate a female assassin who comes from nothing and tries to prove she’s worth something? But for pretty much the entire middle of the book, it was just unwavering. Every chapter ended with a reaffirmation of what she “had to do.” Yes, okay, I know, buuuut could you not? The more this was repeated, the less sympathetic I felt toward her character, and she just started to annoy me. Which is a shame, because I really did feel for her. Yes, it was part of her arc and growth, but there was so much time spent on not arcing or growing that it became repetitive and then happened all at once.

What are some of your favorite heist trope books (other than Six of Crows, because that’s a given)?

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