A review by elijahs_bookshelf
Mortalkind: The Heavenly Heist by Alexander Harrington, Alexander Harrington

4.0

Gotta love yourself a good heist! The plot was well paced and chock full of complications and twists without ever feeling contrived, which was nice. And the worldbuilding supports the narrative quite well--I like the physical relationship between the mortal and heavenly realms. But the highlight of the story, for me, has got to be Farrin. I thought his personality was delightful, his flaws sympathetic, and his character growth steady yet substantial. I similarly liked Mara, and especially appreciated her narrative role of moving the plot forward (in a natural way). Mara seemed a bit shallow at first, but my worry here was quickly remedied, as the story did a good job of unveiling her complexities throughout the book, creating several satisfying moments/scenes as we grow to understand her better. To me, the third character, Gristle, is the clear weakest member of the trio in how he was written: he effectively fills the clever leader trope for a heist plot, but I have a hard time ascribing any further depth to him. I like him fine, but he certainly wasn't as compelling as Farrin or Mara. Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a new fantastical heist story to enjoy, and especially anyone looking for a quicker or lighter read. The writing style was really digestible, allowing me to devore the book in a matter of hours, which I thought was a lot of fun.