Definitely 3.5 stars. 3.75. There was so much I liked about this book but it didn't quite cross over into a rampant desire to reread it (which is usually my threshold for 4 stars).
This book was grittier than I expected, so grounded in Victorian style slums it was almost unnerving (deservedly so) but it also gave the story such authenticity. This was a very real, very rough world with characters who do what it takes to survive - to more than survive.
And even in the midst of that world, these characters are likable, they're interesting and dimensional. They fear and they hate and they betray each other sometimes themselves and yet they're very easy to care about and to root for. And that's the key to any good novel - you have to love the characters.
I also really liked the multiple povs and that they weren't first person. They provided so much depth in getting to know the characters and the intricacies of their relationships and the close third person kept it from getting confusing at all to know whose pov you were in.
More than that, I loved how it ended. I waited so long to read it that I already knew it was a two book series. So, obviously the last page wasn't going to be the end of the story. I wasn't sure if she'd leave us off mid-heist; with the characters plans gone awry and in terrible danger. But this isn't a cliffhanger. It's a story that begins and ends. That opens the world up to new challenges and new possibilities without leaving the ones in this book unfinished. That's a fantastic series.
I was a bit confused going into the last chapter - of where it fit in the timeline and what was going one. I had to read the first few pages of it a couple of times to sort out where we were, but once I got that... it ended really well.
REREAD: I think the thing that makes heist stories really great is when you enjoy them even when you know the turns. The characters in this one sustain it well. I like that theres so much going on within each of them and that the really interesting turns have nothing to do with the heist.
But… reading it right after Ruin and Rising, I miss the magic of the world. I miss the feel of the other books and of Ravka and the fantasy of the stories. I’m not quite enamored with the gritty world of these books, however much I like the characters.