I’ve been hearing chatter about this book on social media and decided to finally see what it’s all about. After reading an article in Bustle that touted The Brilliant Death as “a 19th century mafia tale with magic”, I was sold. Hard. I love mafia stories, I love historical fiction, and to have both wrapped up in a magical fantasy tale sounds like (pardon the pun) pure magic. This first look did nothing but make me clamor for more, and I’m definitely more excited for this book than I was before.