Since I finished reading the Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club trilogy I've been looking for a series or even a stand-alone book that captured the same energy in that trilogy. I haven't really been able to find one though, until now. The Hellion Series has that same kind of feeling. A group of amazing women kicking ass and taking names, rebelling against all of society's norms, and living how they want to. And they could care less what the ton thinks of them.
Tamar and Zahra are best friends on the run after Tamar's older brother framed her for the murder of their father. Taken in by Jonah Johnson a tavern keeper/"thief-taker" the girls train under him to become thief-takers in their own right. At twenty-one, the girls are living a relatively carefree existence (if you don't take into consideration their trade) in St. Giles one of the worst neighborhoods in London. One evening a local comes requesting Jonah hunt down his missing lover and their daughter, at first the thief-takers are going to turn him down, but seeing an opportunity to train their young apprentice Thelia Tamar agrees to take on the job. Little does she know that the case of a simple missing woman will turn into a very real fight for her very life.
I think if you follow my Goodreads it goes without saying that I am an absolute sucker for 19th-century crime stories. Really almost any period crime story to be honest, but when you throw a group of amazing women in the mix who have persevered through some horrible circumstances, I simply can't ignore a book like that!
Naoko Takeuchi said that when she wrote Sailor Moon she wrote the Sailor Scouts as girls that she would like to be friends with and while I certainly can't speak to Walklate's motivation behind the four amazing women in this book when I finished reading it that quote hit pretty hard. Because these four women are not just women I'd like to be friends with they are women *I* know, women I call my friends. They were so well written that I could see facets of my own friendships in them and I ended up forming a bond with the characters almost immediately because of it. They are realistic, their reactions to their circumstances are realistic, and their emotions are relatable.
In terms of the mystery itself, there are actually two in this book and I'm not going to delve too far into it because I don't want to spoil anything but suffice it to say the second unresolved one allows this book to end on the perfect cliff hanger, I genuinely cannot wait to see what happens next and to find out more about our mystery killer! The pacing in this was perfect as well, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and I seriously almost threw my Kindle when Tamar's past catches up with her. I'm not giving any more away than that, if you read it you'll know what when you get there!
And as a side note with absolutely no context, I'm totally pulling for Alexis.
Overall this was absolutely fantastic. I honestly was a little trepidatious because it is pretty short but it ended up being one of the best books I've read this month.
Thanks to BookSirens and Champagne Book Group for the free eArc for this review!
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