The Lies of Locke Lamora

I used to be an extremely avid reader in elementary school, but I lost that drive because of reading assignments in high school and college. This book rekindled my love for reading. Lynch is excellent with description, suspense and building characters I really feel attached to. This story was so hard to put down. The plot moves a little slow at the start, but when the Gentlemen Bastards' schemes start to take shape, the strengths of the story really shine through. I also really like how Lynch builds the world of the story without shoving too much lore down my throat. It's clearly a fantasy world that has a lot of depth, but the focus of the book is on its characters and their actions. I'm halfway through the second book and will definitely be reading the third!

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a brilliant book. It is fast-paced in the best possible way - keeping you fully engaged without leaving you behind. The characters and plot surprised me on a number of occasions, which made the experience of delving into this world that much better. That being said, knowing the outcome will in no way prevent me from reading this book again...it is simply that brilliant. The world-building is fantastic. The descriptions are thorough without being dull. In fact, it never read as though I was being told what I should be seeing. Rather, it felt like the words on the page were being murmured in the background as I stood next to the characters. The balance between the wonder of a fantastic, magical world and the reality of standing in a steaming hot city filled with people, animals, and all the things that come with that was a sharp contrast made readily apparent. Speaking of the magical aspect of this world, it is so well done. At no point did I feel like the magic was being shoved in my face as an oddity. Rather, its existence was taken as simple fact. It was a thing. A tool. A matter of little comment, as it was just a part of life. As incredible as the magic and magical feats were, it was made abundantly clear the characters were entirely comfortable with it, and with the use of it. (Except when it was used against them, clearly.) Now, for the best and (to my mind) most important part of this book: its characters. The characters in The Lies of Locke Lamora, even given all the amazing things held within its pages, make this book a masterpiece. They are brilliant, flawed, beautiful people and I adored all of them. I reveled in their accomplishments, and I was torn to pieces in their moments of defeat. Everything they did, everything that happened to them, my heart soared and broke along with theirs, and will do so again when I read this book again just to visit them all.

There are a few things about this book that prevent me from calling it a perfect read. Most of them are spoilers, but one is the use of modern cursing. It feels sort of out of place and pulls me out of the immersive world. The few drawbacks aside, it's a great read wherein a few twists throw you for a loop and the well fleshed out characters give you something to hold on to and enjoy. I look forward to reading the next book as The Lies of Locke Lamora has proven itself as being a must read.