So imagine you pick up a book and the opening chapter is a boy swearing for VENGEANCE for his murdered family (sans abusive dad.) This book surprised me in so many regards, because I thought that boy would grow up and turn into a killing machine that operated outside the bounds of law - I mean that's what every story does out there. No, this turns originality on it's head. The boy comes back - and he seeks revenge by going through the courts and putting a great deal of care and thought into it. This is so, so rare. Particularly because throughout, you kept seeing Jay exchanging envelopes with shadowy figures, meeting gang leaders in the middle of nowhere, gambling in casinos - with all these hints I thought, he was being nice to the girl he loved, but underneath all that, was a feral tiger on the scent of blood that enjoyed killing. 
 He was on the scent of blood. But it wasn't the visceral kind. 
 He more or less sought his revenge, by putting his trust in the justice system. 
 Again I have to emphasize how rare and original to find a male lead, who grew up from an abused background and gets arrested for nearly beating a man to death at the age of 15, but after that - doesn't descend further into a downward spiral. In the beginning you are tricked into thinking Jay is a vigilante, luring people to death through his magic shows (but you aren't really sure), but it turns out to all be a twist. Fitting, because Jay is an illusionist. 
 I have to say - I skipped through all passages of magic tricks performed by Jay except the first ones she viewed online, and the one when she first went to see him perform live. It was just superfluous. Oh, Jay shakes a cape, he disappears - oh, but he's at the back of the room! How did he get there? None of the mechanics were explained, so it felt like stuff literally I could make up. It was pointless to go into so much description, if it was just described on the surface. 
 PS: This book brought the name Matilda back. So cool!