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A review by spinebenderbooks
Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This both gives us a look at Kamet's POV, previously a minor character featured in the second book. This book deals heavily with Kamet's position and identity as a slave and unravels what that means to and for him over the course of the story.
In Kamet, the book presents a complicated portrayal of slavery from a slave's point of view. At the beginning of the book, his mindset is like that of a person in an abusive relationship - he explains away the abuse he faces from his master and views his position as a slave as a form of security for him in terms of power, wealth, and knowing what is expected of him. He leaves behind his life as a slave not due to breaking away from this way of thinking, but due to his belief that doing so is the only way he can secure the life - or at least the easy death - of his close friend and avoid his own death.
Over the course of the story, his ideas are challenged. Even still, he retains many of the beliefs that he was taught by the colonialist culture he lived under. He views other countries and their citizens as inferior to the power and intellect of the Mede Empire because he was brought up in that belief and has seen it enacted upon himself. He assumes that all countries the Medes seek to conquer will fall to them eventually because his own experience has taught him that that is the outcome. He sees resistance to this as pointless and does not understand what it is to choose freely and to fight to preserve your own culture, because he was raised as a slave whose culture was taken from him at a young age. His many stumbles caused by these beliefs start to slowly wear away at his surety in their veracity. Even while at the end of the book he chooses his freedom over returning to the Medes, he is still unpacking many of the beliefs into which he was indoctrinated. I appreciated that it is a struggle for him to break free from his former life and relearn how to live on his own terms. It feels realistic to me.
The relationship between Costis and Kamet is a fascinating one. It is as though Kamet has never met someone who wears his heart on his sleeve before. He is constantly seeing machinations where there are none and misinterpreting Costis' words due to the prejudices he was taught about other cultures and peoples. It is through Costis that Kamet starts to realise what is can feel like to be valued by another person and to put them before yourself.
Costis and Kamet's relationship is mirrored by that of the mythology featured in this book, that of Ennikar and Immakuk. As Costis is told these stories by Kamet, we see them becoming closer themselves, leading to Kamet's most significant decision in the story - to return to save Costis. I really liked the ways language and grammar were played with in the telling of these mythologies; it felt very lyrical and like I really was reading a translation of a mythology from another culture.
Over the course of the story, his ideas are challenged. Even still, he retains many of the beliefs that he was taught by the colonialist culture he lived under. He views other countries and their citizens as inferior to the power and intellect of the Mede Empire because he was brought up in that belief and has seen it enacted upon himself. He assumes that all countries the Medes seek to conquer will fall to them eventually because his own experience has taught him that that is the outcome. He sees resistance to this as pointless and does not understand what it is to choose freely and to fight to preserve your own culture, because he was raised as a slave whose culture was taken from him at a young age. His many stumbles caused by these beliefs start to slowly wear away at his surety in their veracity. Even while at the end of the book he chooses his freedom over returning to the Medes, he is still unpacking many of the beliefs into which he was indoctrinated. I appreciated that it is a struggle for him to break free from his former life and relearn how to live on his own terms. It feels realistic to me.
The relationship between Costis and Kamet is a fascinating one. It is as though Kamet has never met someone who wears his heart on his sleeve before. He is constantly seeing machinations where there are none and misinterpreting Costis' words due to the prejudices he was taught about other cultures and peoples. It is through Costis that Kamet starts to realise what is can feel like to be valued by another person and to put them before yourself.
Costis and Kamet's relationship is mirrored by that of the mythology featured in this book, that of Ennikar and Immakuk. As Costis is told these stories by Kamet, we see them becoming closer themselves, leading to Kamet's most significant decision in the story - to return to save Costis. I really liked the ways language and grammar were played with in the telling of these mythologies; it felt very lyrical and like I really was reading a translation of a mythology from another culture.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Miscarriage, Torture, Xenophobia, and Colonisation