Until We Shatter by Kate Dillon:

In an imaginary kingdom, magic is real.  ‘Hues’ wield different colours of magic, against the rule of The Dominion, a theocratic state.  Cemmy has an ill mother, so she falls in with a gang of thieves to pull off a heist that could change society.  

Although there is enough to tempt the fantasy reader, the book is earthbound by an all-too familiar narrative.  Cemmy’s mother suffers from a ‘disease of the blood’, her gang are the lovable rogues you’d find in the average crime novel.  There’s also the trope from most police procedurals, that our hero is pulled back in for one last score.  

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it is what makes the narrative a little too familiar.  See also: not as expansive/ imaginative as a fantasy book could/should be.  Cemmy is an engaging character and it’s nice to see one in a fantasy book that is queer, not one that is seen as heteronormative or sexually available.  The ‘hues’ is a cracking idea, see also the idea that overuse of one’s powers will kill you, hence that arch title. 

But I found the lack of flair, the infodumping and the genuine absence of the fantastic to be a let down.  It’s published by Hodder And Stoughton on October 17th and I thank them for a preview copy.