West, Michelle -- The Hidden City

Grumpy old thief (tomb raider, not burglar) takes in street waif. Street waif learns to trust him; also shows alarming propensity to adopt more strays. This is an odd remix of the tropes of the author's Cast In... series (city with hidden magics; politics and petty nobility; orphans) with the Gang Of Girls Don't Need No Boys Here that more than one author has concealed in her trunk of teenage first novels. (Sherwood Smith even published hers.) I'm not sure whether this is indulging in juvenilia, subverting it, or re-imagining it with an adult perspective. It works, so far. Not sure where sequels will go.


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