A review by chirson
Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

4.0

A really gripping read with clever things to say about power and emotions, and freedom. Kamet is immediately believable, complex and interesting. I loved the intermissions of Ennikar and Immakuk's adventures in the form of beautifully rendered epic poems. All the same, I found the conclusion to be a little underwhelming and not as emotionally satisfying as conclusions of some of the earlier volumes.

Spoiler

I'm afraid the reason for that was that the novel very much invests the friendship of Costis and Kamet with signs of homoerotic affection - the queer reading is very obvious and strongly suggested. There are alibi moments of course: obligatory "we both have women exes!" tales, for example. But after all that investment, the lack of resolution on that front, making do with sailing into the sunset, felt tonally false. And don't get me wrong, maybe the characters aren't meant to read as queer as they do: but even if you only consider them to be friends, and their relationship to be non-erotic, the resolution of their conflict falls just a little flat, just a little short for me. I know that Whalen is capable of strong, even pathos-filled emotional resolutions; this one felt too subtle, too withdrawn; the build-up was so powerful and so complex that I expected bigger fireworks.

That said: when is the next book? I need it. What happens next?!