Florian

I enjoyed the premise and the inspiration behind this series. I did not connect to the characters as much as I would have liked.

This was a lovely read.
I enjoyed the slow burn of the budding romance between Luca and Oliver that gave me a chance to connect with the characters. It also celebrates a beautiful sport that deserves more recognition.
It was the perfect read right when I needed something sweet and genuine.

I really wanted to love this. I'll take any chance to jump into a tale where scent is magic. I would have loved to learn more about this world and how the magic shapes it.
Unfortunately we learn very little about it. We also learn little about the protagonist who is always on the hunt for some dangerous magic ingredient or other. But we never really learn why. What does he need those ingredients for? What is he trying to make? We get some small hints of what his motivation might be only more than halfway through the book. So sadly the story feels a bit disjointed. On top of that the protagonist is insufferable and cruel and I could overlook that if at least he were interesting in any way. Unfortunately I never got a chance to connect to Marcel. I feel some of this could have been remedied with more critical editing of the story. I hope if this tale is ever continued in a sequel some more care will go into developing the plot so we can empathize in some way with the main character and follow him on a journey that actually leads somewhere. In this first book we unfortunately didn't get that chance.

Loved the fast pace and interesting setting that hints at more story to discover. Surprisingly raw moments led depth to this heist story.

An excellent read on a broader development away from technocapitalism to technofeudalism. Thoughts were provoked.