Genre: YA Fantasy 

Publisher: Penguin Teen Canada, published November 10, 2020

Format: ebook

Pages: 400

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

A dark and intricate fantasy, City of the Uncommon Thief is the story of a quarantined city gripped by fear and of the war that can free it.

“Guilders work. Foundlings scrub the bogs. Needles bind. Swords tear. And men leave. There is nothing uncommon in this city. I hope Errol Thebes is dead. We both know he is safer that way.”

In a walled city of a mile-high iron guild towers, many things are common knowledge: No book in any of the city’s libraries reveals its place on a calendar or a map. No living beasts can be found within the city’s walls. And no good comes to the guilder or foundling who trespasses too far from their labors.

Even on the tower rooftops, where Errol Thebes and the rest of the city’s teenagers pass a few short years under an open sky, no one truly believe anything uncommon is possible within the city walls.

But one guildmaster has broken tradition to protect her child, and as a result the whole city faces an uncommon threat: a pair of black iron spikes that have the power of both sword and needle on the ribcages of men have gone missing, but the mayhem they cause rises everywhere. If the spikes not found and contained, no wall will be high enough to protect the city–or the world beyond it.

And Errol Thebes? He’s not dead and he’s certainly not safe.

My Review: 

Thank you Penguin Teen Canada for the copy of this book!
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The novel is about a quarantined city with different groups of people and the tension between them. There is the narrator, Odd, who is a runner on the roofs, but is also considered a bard who tells stories. When his cousin, Errol, is dropped to the ground, this unleashed certain events that will change the city!
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While I liked the characters of Odd and Errol, I thought the world that was created was quite complex and tough to follow. I did like the concept of life on the roof, and the love Odd had for classic stories, but I found it difficult to follow the story fully. Felt like a lot was happening and it was tough to stay immersed. I did like the parts where Errol was on the ground!
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CW: violence