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Sons of Liberty
Six of Crows meets Red Queen in this epic dystopian fantasy retelling of the Culper Spy
A shadow summoner.
A spy known as the Reaper.
An ex-assassin.
A bookish sharpshooter.
A convict with an affinity for healing.
Tallmadge needs two things to her sword, and to maintain her winning streak in the highly illegal Scrap Fights.
Tyrannical Commander Dorn takes away the latter, and Tallmadge loses the only way to scrape enough money together to survive the Scrap. So when an opportunity to assassinate him comes along, she is more than happy to accept the mission to with her motley crew of West Republic outcasts.
But when she unlocks the ability to summon shadows, a power only a god-favored Wielder should have, her very existence becomes a threat to Dorn, who's counted on her weakness her entire life. Tallmadge must navigate the dangers of underground rebel factions, learn to work alongside her ability which seems to have a mind of its own, and kill Dorn before the census. Alliances with old enemies, new friends, and Saints are all necessary if she wants to kill Dorn, because he's out to kill her, and her crew, first.
A shadow summoner.
A spy known as the Reaper.
An ex-assassin.
A bookish sharpshooter.
A convict with an affinity for healing.
Tallmadge needs two things to her sword, and to maintain her winning streak in the highly illegal Scrap Fights.
Tyrannical Commander Dorn takes away the latter, and Tallmadge loses the only way to scrape enough money together to survive the Scrap. So when an opportunity to assassinate him comes along, she is more than happy to accept the mission to with her motley crew of West Republic outcasts.
But when she unlocks the ability to summon shadows, a power only a god-favored Wielder should have, her very existence becomes a threat to Dorn, who's counted on her weakness her entire life. Tallmadge must navigate the dangers of underground rebel factions, learn to work alongside her ability which seems to have a mind of its own, and kill Dorn before the census. Alliances with old enemies, new friends, and Saints are all necessary if she wants to kill Dorn, because he's out to kill her, and her crew, first.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
355 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 4, 2023
4 people are currently reading
948 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Want to read
June 3, 2023I heard this is Six of Crows mixed with Red Queen and a dash of Captain America so TAKE MY MONEY PLEASE—
June 14, 2023
Sydney my angel ! You literally made a book ! Your way with words is phenomenal i hope every person on earth reads this book and loves it as much as i did, these characters are home and this world is beautiful and captivating i love it so much♥️
June 18, 2023
book, so so good. characters, so so good. everything = perfect but expect laughter and heartbreak and everything in between.
December 30, 2023
(Long review incoming. I have a lot of thoughts on everything & I’m an author myself so I’m gonna get specific lol).
This is one of the best indie books I’ve read (& I’m the world’s most nitpicky person). Solid world, solid characters, solid prose, & I’m intrigued by it. The passion put into this book is very apparent & I’m surprised it wasn’t picked up by a publisher consider its similarities to Six of Crows in energy (it’s not a copycat ofc but anyone who’s read Six of Crows will know that this author has too). Books like that surely sell well. The traditional publishing industry is cowardly, I guess.
My main criticisms aren’t with the content but with the execution. I think another round of edits would have done this book good. Some scenes are unclear with who's in them & where everyone is in space, which seems to be an issue regarding the neatness of the prose. They’re good & clever, but clarity is more important than cleverness. There are many terms are thrown around with minimal elaboration in the beginning. Either a glossary or more direct exposition would be very helpful. I also think the author needs to remember that the majority of people walk into books with no prior knowledge, so you have to really hold their hands in the beginning. There’s no harm in saying things outright when it’s needed. It’s also noticeable that Tallmadge is the author’s favorite (or one of them) based mainly on how the other characters describe her moving or reacting, almost like those scenes used to be from her pov and the remnants still show through. She sometimes makes the other characters look flat by comparison.
All this ties into my opinion that the book should have been longer because it would give more time for exposition, showing characters instead of telling about them, & more exploration of the world. But it’s the first in a trilogy so I’ll get what I’m hoping for regardless.
Other than that, it’s a very compelling read. It’s certainly more colorful than most other indie books (I have mild synesthesia & the things I like are often colorful haha). The lines that stand out don’t sound like they were forced or thrown in to be memorable, they just worked well. Most of the sequences where the characters were injured felt realistic and vivid. The characters are distinct, & interesting, & the humor is never forced (the “geese cannot touch holy water” & “small things are angrier” jokes delighted me. I wish more books were funny in that way). The world building is also very believable and easy to keep track of (save for random little terms). Despite my issues with the prose and length, I’m fond of many word choices & passages. There’s good personification of random objects too, which helps give a better impression of what they look like or how the narrator feels about them, which gives more insight on the characters themselves. I was very happy about the queer representation too, especially with Biyu being non-binary (she/they) which is so rarely shown in media, let alone someone who uses two sets of pronouns. I’m fairly certain Tallmadge has ADHD too which was also nice to see and I liked that, despite being blond and energetic, she has shadow powers. I mention those traits because I usually see shadow powers in dark edgy brooding ™ characters and I love a good toss up. As always, I’m a sucker for found family & magical teens, a combo which makes up the majority of my own writing. Unfortunately I don’t have a favorite character because I need to spend more time with each of them to connect better with them, but the best written were Tallmadge, Hamilton, and Culper in that order. I’m most intrigued by Madison and Asha. And the end had me shocked. I was like “absolutely no way that just happened” and it DID and the craziest part was that IT MADE SENSE. I could recall the moments building up to The Things That Happened and they WORKED WELL. Holy moly
Great book and I’m hyped for the next one! Hopefully it won’t take a month in the mail like the first one lol
This is one of the best indie books I’ve read (& I’m the world’s most nitpicky person). Solid world, solid characters, solid prose, & I’m intrigued by it. The passion put into this book is very apparent & I’m surprised it wasn’t picked up by a publisher consider its similarities to Six of Crows in energy (it’s not a copycat ofc but anyone who’s read Six of Crows will know that this author has too). Books like that surely sell well. The traditional publishing industry is cowardly, I guess.
My main criticisms aren’t with the content but with the execution. I think another round of edits would have done this book good. Some scenes are unclear with who's in them & where everyone is in space, which seems to be an issue regarding the neatness of the prose. They’re good & clever, but clarity is more important than cleverness. There are many terms are thrown around with minimal elaboration in the beginning. Either a glossary or more direct exposition would be very helpful. I also think the author needs to remember that the majority of people walk into books with no prior knowledge, so you have to really hold their hands in the beginning. There’s no harm in saying things outright when it’s needed. It’s also noticeable that Tallmadge is the author’s favorite (or one of them) based mainly on how the other characters describe her moving or reacting, almost like those scenes used to be from her pov and the remnants still show through. She sometimes makes the other characters look flat by comparison.
All this ties into my opinion that the book should have been longer because it would give more time for exposition, showing characters instead of telling about them, & more exploration of the world. But it’s the first in a trilogy so I’ll get what I’m hoping for regardless.
Other than that, it’s a very compelling read. It’s certainly more colorful than most other indie books (I have mild synesthesia & the things I like are often colorful haha). The lines that stand out don’t sound like they were forced or thrown in to be memorable, they just worked well. Most of the sequences where the characters were injured felt realistic and vivid. The characters are distinct, & interesting, & the humor is never forced (the “geese cannot touch holy water” & “small things are angrier” jokes delighted me. I wish more books were funny in that way). The world building is also very believable and easy to keep track of (save for random little terms). Despite my issues with the prose and length, I’m fond of many word choices & passages. There’s good personification of random objects too, which helps give a better impression of what they look like or how the narrator feels about them, which gives more insight on the characters themselves. I was very happy about the queer representation too, especially with Biyu being non-binary (she/they) which is so rarely shown in media, let alone someone who uses two sets of pronouns. I’m fairly certain Tallmadge has ADHD too which was also nice to see and I liked that, despite being blond and energetic, she has shadow powers. I mention those traits because I usually see shadow powers in dark edgy brooding ™ characters and I love a good toss up. As always, I’m a sucker for found family & magical teens, a combo which makes up the majority of my own writing. Unfortunately I don’t have a favorite character because I need to spend more time with each of them to connect better with them, but the best written were Tallmadge, Hamilton, and Culper in that order. I’m most intrigued by Madison and Asha. And the end had me shocked. I was like “absolutely no way that just happened” and it DID and the craziest part was that IT MADE SENSE. I could recall the moments building up to The Things That Happened and they WORKED WELL. Holy moly
Great book and I’m hyped for the next one! Hopefully it won’t take a month in the mail like the first one lol
August 3, 2023
To be quite honest, I find the marketing a bit misleading for Sons of Liberty. It's compared to Six of Crows and Red Queen, and while I think it has elements of both, to compare it to those books does this one a disfavor because Sons of Liberty is so much more than a heist with some magic thrown in.
The characters are definitely the highlight of the story. I didn't know it was multiple POV until I started reading it and was pleasantly surprised. Hamilton was my favorite character, but I liked them all (and I can't wait to see them truly develop in book two).
Definitely worth a read for anyone looking for a fantasy heist novel with hints of a revolution!
The characters are definitely the highlight of the story. I didn't know it was multiple POV until I started reading it and was pleasantly surprised. Hamilton was my favorite character, but I liked them all (and I can't wait to see them truly develop in book two).
Definitely worth a read for anyone looking for a fantasy heist novel with hints of a revolution!
September 22, 2025
This book took me by the hand and we went on a walk together through a lovely environment. Then it shoved me into a hole and started burying me alive. I mean this in the way where this book took a turn I COMPLETELY wasn’t expecting and I loved it. Fantastic read, I’m going to have to get the second one
Edit: I just realised the next one isn’t out until November, so I put the release date in my calendar
Edit: I just realised the next one isn’t out until November, so I put the release date in my calendar
March 28, 2024
Y’ALL. This book? Fantastic. I love all the characters (Hamilton called me out in so many different ways) and I wanna scream at the author (in a good way) for what she did to her characters. The worldbuilding is great—it made perfect sense and felt very natural in how it was displayed. The dynamics between all of the characters is fantastic and I JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF IT HONESTLYYYY
July 19, 2024
Six of Crows meets Red Queen in this epic dystopian fantasy retelling of the Culper Spy Ring: A shadow summoner. It was an enjoyable easy read. I will try to get back on to add more but this is worth the read.
January 24, 2024
4.8/5.0
Highly recommend!
Highly recommend!
August 3, 2025
This book is described as Six of Crows meets Red Queen, and I see the parallels to Six of Crows. The banter and dynamics between the characters were funny and realistic, and I loved the romance subplots! The context of the Culper Spy Ring added political dimension to the story, although I found it difficult to picture the world of the book, especially the geography. I had some issues with the writing style, which tended to slow down action scenes. Also, some events seemed to unfold too quickly or too easily. That being said, the plot picked up--majorly--in the last part of the book. I'm deeply invested in the characters and I'm still heartbroken over the ending. I need the next book ASAP.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews