Rating 1/5
I wanted to start off this year with a positive review but unfortunately that is not possible due to my strong negative reaction to Kate Dylan’s Until We Shatter (2024).
Within the book’s glass-cracked cover, Until We Shatter is described as a kind of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows (2015) meets V.E.Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic (2015). However, this romantasy heist is no Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora (2006). While I did have hopes for this book, I couldn’t get with the cast of misfits’ and their explanatory jargon, finding myself in an unclear environment, too focussed on establishing its emotionless romance and confusing magic system.
Until We Shatter takes place in the city of Isitar and follows Cemilla, a half shade shunned by both The Church and The Council of Shades, who spends her days pickpocketing in order to secure funds for her mother’s treatment. Her life changes when she’s forced into a job that could potentially resolve all her problems. She just has to steal a powerful relic with the help of Chase, a handsome fellow half shade himself. But like all heists a job is never that simple and it may not just affect the lives of the thieves but the world as well.
Okay, so first off, my main problem with this book is that it spends a huge amount of time spewing information. Rather than thread its lore, history etc through the character’s interactions, too much time is spent with extensive explanations. This would have been better afforded to things like the setting. Reading Until We Shatter, I didn’t feel I got a very defined picture of Isitar and its culture. The Church, The Council of Shades, the ‘colourless’ inter-dimensional world known as The Grey and the source of this world’s magic were the only subjects discussed over and over throughout the story’s progression. Now for a magic system clearly inspired by the works of Brandon Sanderson and taking up the majority of the text, I would have thought it easy to interpret. However, in the end its colour based magic system ended up being too confusing for me to comprehend and at times it tended to break its own rules. For example, at one point a character reveals their power can kill a half shade if used on them. Yet when such an occasion arises the shade affected is miraculously spared by such magic. Queue in palm to face. While the whole ‘magic resolves all’ explanation may seem justifiable it made the impact feel cheap and the most high-stake moments fizzle.
Even the characters could not eclipse these flaws.
When I think of heist stories, my mind is always drawn to the loveable rogue whose wit and talents leave authorities baffled. Until We Shatter’s Cemilla did not embody these factors. For a thief she didn’t seem to possess that over-confidence or arrogance required to do what she does, her development mostly centred on either her learning to control her gifts or getting it on with Chase. I could understand if Dylan was attempting to break traditional tropes but this did not hit any marks to make her interesting.
While indeed breaking from the long line of ‘shadow daddies’ plaguing 2024, Chase himself didn’t provide anything fresh either, his hidden secrets and allegiances quite obvious to keen-eyed readers. Similar problems can be said with Cemmy’s crew of half-shades. It didn’t feel like they brought anything new to the table. In fact, their personalities all seemed identical. They also didn’t contribute much to the story and were simply there because of plot devices.
As for the romance….The romance between Cemmy and her friend Novi, then Cemmy and Chase wasn’t as passionate as love triangles should be. They felt bland and at a quality level best suited for low budget Netflix show adaptions. Much like the plot the stakes between the lovers weren’t high and the moments of conflict between them ridiculous. For example, there is a moment where Cemmy feels betrayed by Novi because she hid the fact she could sign language? Not exactly anything life shattering in my opinion. And yet Cemmy expresses her shock and uncertainty to trust Novi and chooses to put her faith in a man, who does not only deceive her once, but twice.
Despite the cover’s comments, the twists and turns will not leave you reeling. The characters and setting won’t be memorable and their magic not as simple and clear as readers might think. Until We Shatter is a book that will crack through to the sensibility of its readers and get them looking elsewhere.
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