Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Thief

This was a reread for me and I still love this book.

I typically don't take much note of descriptions in books, but the descriptions of the setting in this book were very evocative and brought to mind perfectly the loosely ancient Greek inspired setting. I loved the way this inspiration shows up in the mythology included in the series as well, and how the mythology parallels and informs the plot.

The protagonist, Eugenides, is such a fantastic example of

an unreliable narrator working perfectly to tell a story. Even knowing who his character really is going in, it was fun to pick up on all the places where he's carefully choosing his words to obfuscate the truth without lying.

He is such a clever and well written character and it's a delight to live in his head for bit while reading.

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kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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bzliz's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a re-read and I loved it just as much as I did the first time. Now that I know the twists and reveals, I can spot hints of them in the lead-up which would seem completely innocuous to first time readers.

This installment is largely focused on the travel portion of their quest which I personally enjoyed but I can understand how some readers wouldn’t enjoy that. Gen is such a delightful little scamp and a lot of major players in future books are laid out in this one. I’m so excited to start the second book again.

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max_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

3.25 Stars

So...this was a bit of an oddball.

Definitely well-written with great world-building and and great use of an unreliable narrator.

But the first half is absolutely miserable. It's just a prisoner being dragged around and kicked emotionally and physically. It's honestly really draining and I would have dnf-ed it if I wasn't reading it for a book club.

The second half is pretty solid, especially if you don't try to guess any plot twists (which I did and was more right than wrong.) And Sophos was a fun twink.

There is truly nothing inherently wrong with this book. It just was not for me.

Shoutout to Shane West for excellent audio narration.

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robin1010's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

rtc on reread.

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oxeyed's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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atamano's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I get the sense that readers might find Eugenides more annoying than charismatic/charming the way Turner intended (God knows I did at times), but I couldn't help doing some research while I was in the middle of the book and he's apparently about 15 at the time this book is set. Explains a lot. And while it's pretty clear that he's somewhere in his adolescence, my major complaint about this book is probably that I'd have liked to have a clearer idea of Eugenides' age.

That aside, I'm fascinated by this world Turner's constructed. It took me until about a third of the way through to realize that this world is less medieval fantasy like I'd--completely baselessly--assumed but more of an early modern fantasy. (Guns exist. They're not as accurate as crossbows, so firearm technology can't be said to be very advanced, but guns do very much exist. As do compasses.) Also--and this is not me saying I have a wide breadth of knowledge on this subject--I don't think I've ever read a fantasy story that was written fairly recently where the gods are both transcendent and immanent. The way they impact the world and the characters is super interesting.

Even when they're (ostensibly) present, they're ethereal and a little uncanny. But when they do show traces of humanity, like when Eugenides the thief realizes that Eugenides the god carries a burden of grief for the brother who hated him, it's rather impactful.

I think Turner also did a good job of seeding the plot twists along the way. This story is much more than a simple fetch quest, and while the pacing definitely isn't for everybody, some patience and attention to detail will end up paying off.

Will be checking out the next book after I've taken a bit of a break from the world.

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