zombiecupcake29's review
4.0
I did really enjoy this book. I was so happy to win a signed copy. I loved to concept and the plot of the book. It gives a fresh take on magic and fantasy. My only issue and the reason it only received four stars was because it was a very short book. I think if it had been a bit longer then there could have been more character development and would have given the reader a better chance to connect to the characters. In the end I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a quick good read.
beccah42's review
4.0
I enjoyed the book, and I will read the next one in the series. But it felt somewhat incomplete, as if it is a brilliant beginning to a book, but not a completed one. It did a wonderful job of introducing the characters and the world, and making you interested in their story. But I feel like it did not have a central plot, just a bunch of smaller side plots. Perhaps the next book will continue the story from its beginning in the book and will feel more complete.
amapola's review against another edition
3.0
Received this book as part of a goodreads giveaway, and while I was intrigued by the premise, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a lot smaller than I expected, length-wise, but I shouldn’t have let that dissuade me – it packed a lot in ! The writing style was very suiting to the characters, and the characters themselves were very intriguing. What started out as a group of ragtag misfits turned out into an intriguing mystery that left me wanting more. That’s what I liked the most about this book – it revealed enough information to not frustrate you and leave you scratching your head, while giving you enough mysteries that makes you want to keep going, if only to know what the heck is happening to Kila.
zombiecupcake29's review against another edition
4.0
I did really enjoy this book. I was so happy to win a signed copy. I loved to concept and the plot of the book. It gives a fresh take on magic and fantasy. My only issue and the reason it only received four stars was because it was a very short book. I think if it had been a bit longer then there could have been more character development and would have given the reader a better chance to connect to the characters. In the end I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a quick good read.
cpark2005's review against another edition
3.0
Thief of Sparks by Erick Kent Edstrom is a book that has a lot of potential. It has a fun, interesting concept for it’s magic, coupled with cats that speak with telepathy! Telepathic cats are pretty cool. Unfortunately, for me the book didn’t quite fully live up to its potential.
Two elements of Thief of Sparks stand out for me. The first is the aforementioned cats. One thing Edstrom has done wonderfully is capture the personality of cats. They are aloof, somewhat clueless, and sarcastic. I’m pretty sure if my cat could speak to me telepathically our conversations would not be too far off what you find in Thief of Sparks. In addition to the authenticity and humor of the cats, I also enjoyed the budding comradery of the main group of characters. I cared about the characters and was interested in seeing how things would turn out for them.
Unfortunately, the book is very short and I think that brevity hurts it in many ways. While I cared about the characters, character development was weak. There simply wasn’t enough time for the characters to grow much. The magic system itself, from the bonding of cats to the “mercus vision” were also only lightly explained. I found myself confused at moments, not really understanding how the world worked—from who “Radiants” were to what a “Donne Master” did. There is a lot of potential in this book, but very little of it is developed. To top it off, the book doesn’t have an ending, per se. Instead, it just sort of stops. I found myself waiting for the end game to kick in, and there just wasn’t one.
There is a lot of potential in Thief of Sparks. I wish it lived up to more of it. 2.5/5 stars.
5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
Two elements of Thief of Sparks stand out for me. The first is the aforementioned cats. One thing Edstrom has done wonderfully is capture the personality of cats. They are aloof, somewhat clueless, and sarcastic. I’m pretty sure if my cat could speak to me telepathically our conversations would not be too far off what you find in Thief of Sparks. In addition to the authenticity and humor of the cats, I also enjoyed the budding comradery of the main group of characters. I cared about the characters and was interested in seeing how things would turn out for them.
Unfortunately, the book is very short and I think that brevity hurts it in many ways. While I cared about the characters, character development was weak. There simply wasn’t enough time for the characters to grow much. The magic system itself, from the bonding of cats to the “mercus vision” were also only lightly explained. I found myself confused at moments, not really understanding how the world worked—from who “Radiants” were to what a “Donne Master” did. There is a lot of potential in this book, but very little of it is developed. To top it off, the book doesn’t have an ending, per se. Instead, it just sort of stops. I found myself waiting for the end game to kick in, and there just wasn’t one.
There is a lot of potential in Thief of Sparks. I wish it lived up to more of it. 2.5/5 stars.
5 – I loved this, couldn’t put it down, move it to the top of your TBR pile
4 – I really enjoyed this, add it to the TBR pile
3 – It was ok, depending on your preferences it may be worth your time
2 – I didn’t like this book, it has significant flaws and I can’t recommend it
1 – I loathe this book with a most loathsome loathing
kittyg's review
3.0
This was one of my #SPFBO entries for this year and it was a pretty fun read. I feel liek it starts off as a fairly typical thieving story, but it later developed into the start of a story I did not expect, but wanted to know more about.
We follow a brother and sister called Kila and Wen. They live day-by-day on the streets and in a little home in the Warren and they steal to live. Kila is stealing more out of the two of them as Wen is sick and they need money for his medicine. Until one day, the thing they steal is actually a cat, and this leads to no amount of trouble...
In a world where magic is limited and people are scared of cats and magic-users Kila is alone and left out of common society. Kila has the ability to see metal, something very useful for stealing. She has to do her best with what is given to her and what she can scrounge up, and she is a resourceful and spiky character. I liked her personality and her desperation to provide was warming and sometimes dangerous which was fun to read about.
I definitely enjoyed seeing the blend of magic and animals in this one, it had a lot of cute and amusing moments, and I think it's got potential. Oly and Nax were the two cat characters who we see the most of, and they are sarcastic and witty and added a new dimension to the story. I liked their comments a lot.
In the end I feel like this book was kind of cut off too early. It started off in a way that felt a bit too predictable to me, and then it changed direction and turned more into a heist story. I really liked the direction change, and I found myself sucked into the story as it went on, but then suddenly it ended without a real resolution and on a very large cliff hanger. I really wanted the author to keep writing in this book and finish this bit of the tale before cutting it off, and it is a really short read so they could have done so, but I guess they left the reader wanting more.
Overall, it was a fun one that had some good twists and I think it will be more memorable than some of the other stories I've read for SPFBO, but as it is so short and the story had only just begun I can't really say it felt complete to me. 3*s overall which is 6/10 for SPFBO purposes.
We follow a brother and sister called Kila and Wen. They live day-by-day on the streets and in a little home in the Warren and they steal to live. Kila is stealing more out of the two of them as Wen is sick and they need money for his medicine. Until one day, the thing they steal is actually a cat, and this leads to no amount of trouble...
In a world where magic is limited and people are scared of cats and magic-users Kila is alone and left out of common society. Kila has the ability to see metal, something very useful for stealing. She has to do her best with what is given to her and what she can scrounge up, and she is a resourceful and spiky character. I liked her personality and her desperation to provide was warming and sometimes dangerous which was fun to read about.
I definitely enjoyed seeing the blend of magic and animals in this one, it had a lot of cute and amusing moments, and I think it's got potential. Oly and Nax were the two cat characters who we see the most of, and they are sarcastic and witty and added a new dimension to the story. I liked their comments a lot.
In the end I feel like this book was kind of cut off too early. It started off in a way that felt a bit too predictable to me, and then it changed direction and turned more into a heist story. I really liked the direction change, and I found myself sucked into the story as it went on, but then suddenly it ended without a real resolution and on a very large cliff hanger. I really wanted the author to keep writing in this book and finish this bit of the tale before cutting it off, and it is a really short read so they could have done so, but I guess they left the reader wanting more.
Overall, it was a fun one that had some good twists and I think it will be more memorable than some of the other stories I've read for SPFBO, but as it is so short and the story had only just begun I can't really say it felt complete to me. 3*s overall which is 6/10 for SPFBO purposes.
imzadirose's review
2.0
Meh. 2.5 really. I'm not a fan of authors as narrators. He wasn't awful, but wasn't good either. But book just didn't hold my interest. If it weren't so short I wouldn't have finished it, but since it was quick I stuck with it. Just meh.
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