Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin

Child of the Night Guild by Andy Peloquin was by far an interesting and surprising read.  

I love reading about strong willed female characters. Strong determined girls that turn into even stronger determined women.  

We meet Viola under dark and interesting circumstances. She's roughly 8 years old and her life has dramatically changed- for the worst. She finds herself in the clutches of the Night Guild – an organization that prides itself in having the best thieves, poisoners and so forth. While there, she realizes that she's the only girl. There, she meets Master Velvet, who is to be their trainer. He's cruel and cunning and demands too much of his trainees or tyros as he likes to call them. 

Viola, being the youngest, and the only girl, happens to also be the weakest. The tasks and chores that they are told to do are grueling, not only to their bodies, but mind. But, being who she is, she manages to survive. She make allies of the other children, by either helping them when they need it, or just being a friendly face.   

While under Master Velvet's care, the children are told and demanded to forget who they were before, their names, lives and memories. And although, it might seem hard, remember –these are children with impressionable minds. Viola soon forgets even her name. The title that has been assigned to her is number Seven. And to that she responds for the remainder of her time with Master Velvet.  

She starts training harder than anyone, and soon learns that with her strong determination – she's able to become better than most. As she develops her skills, she's able to gain her confidence and strength.  

The journey that her particular character took, although not an easy one, made her the strong person that she needed to be. She was always seen as less because she was a girl. But that didn't matter to her. She trained harder and fought harder than anyone else. She didn't want it to become a crutch.  

After being under Master's Velvet care for some time, she was "adopted" or apprenticed under House of Hawks. That is where she really and truly flourished. She was able to show her worth. Once in that new home, she was given a new name – Illana. She didn't know the meaning of it, but like with anything thrown her way – she accepted it and made it her own. While under House of Hawks, she made friends – who then became her family. Those boys – although older than her, took care of her. Watched out for her, and trained her as best as they could. They were told not to coddle her, because even though she was a girl, she had to work twice as hard to prove her worth.  

Although, at times I felt like it was taking too long for the story to develop, I still enjoyed it. I believe that Andy put a lot of effort into building the characters and their relationships. I like that we got their immediate surroundings, and it felt as if I were there – standing with her, or climbing – hanging on to the ropes for my dear life. I enjoyed that I was able to experience her different emotions and feelings. I felt her rage, loathe, compassion and even love.  

Although I wouldn't consider the way that the book ended a cliffhanger, it was unexpected. I was shocked to say the least! I don’t want to give too much away, because then that would take away from the reader. But please know that I enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to reading the next installment – which is Thief of the Night Guild.   

I definitely considered this book a 4 stars!!