Fawkes
By Nadine Brandes
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Recommended For: People ages 14+ who love history and magic, especially those fascinated by English history.
Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.
Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared, but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.
But what if death finds him first?
Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.
The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.
The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.
No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.
The Gist:
I’d heard a lot of great stuff about Nadine’s book and I have to say it lived up to they hype. It’s a stunning re-imagination of The Gunpowder Plot (it’s an actual event that took place in London in the 1600s, look it up!). With magical elements seamlessly woven in, you almost forget you’re in our world. The characters are relatable have strong and realistic motives. It’s a stunning read that allows you to dive back in time and escape reality simultaneously. And it includes all the elements that make a book superb: lots of action, high stakes, exquisite world building (with the magical system), deep characters and a lovely romantic plot line.
What I Liked:
The magic system with the masks was so intriguing to me. I’d never read a book where magic was so characterized by color and made stronger by masks (maybe that exists though and I just haven’t read it). It felt very unique and I love a good strong good vs. evil theme like with the white vs black light.
I definitely picked up on the allegories within the story and I loved them. Nadine did such a good job of representing the Protestant vs. Catholic struggle through the White Light disagreement. I feel like I got to see both sides of the story which is uncommon in a book and I loved having that in Fawkes
I adored the main character. Thomas was so relatable. I know I’ve acted like him a lot in my life so I found it really easy to understand him and relate to him. He was a strong character but not without his weaknesses, which added an extra depth to him so he wasn’t just a flat character. He also went through a lot of internal processing I thought Nadine handled expertly. The female protagonist, Emma, was very dynamic and I wanted to be her so bad. She was so fierce in her convictions and I found her super inspiring. Both these characters had really strong voices and motivations that drew me in from the beginning.
Outside of the main character, every other character was well crafted and developed. Nadine provides a clear picture of each personality type and the different motivations for each character. And they each had their own special contribution to the plot
The history element was spot on, from my limited knowledge. I was actually stunned when I read the section at the end about what was true and what was a stretch because so much of it was true! I love that. Nadine just did an excellent job at blending in the trueness of the story and bits of her imagination.
The love story within the story was so sweet. Nadine is top notch and romantic tension and plot lines. And the main characters’ interactions with each other were filled with that delicious romantic tension but not too over the top to the point of being ridiculous.
What I Didn’t Like:
There was very little I didn’t like. The main thing for me was the very beginning, trying to get my mind around the magical system. It seemed like there was a lot of info thrown at me and I had a hard time keeping it straight and why the Keepers despised using White Light so much. But it all came together and I walked away from the book understanding it all and feeling satisfied, so just half a point off for that.
LunasLuckyRating: 4.5/5 Lunas
