SELECT * FROM uv_BookReviewRollup WHERE recordnum = 1553 Thief's Covenant, by Ari Marmell Book Review | SFReader.com

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Thief's Covenant, by Ari Marmell
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Pyr
Published: 2012
Review Posted: 8/11/2013
Reviewer Rating:
Reader Rating: Not Rated

Thief's Covenant, by Ari Marmell

Book Review by Joshua Palmatier

Have you read this book?

This is the first book by Ari Marmell that I've read, but after this I'll definitely be reading more. Thief's Covenant is the first book in this young adult series, called Widdershins.

The main premise is that Widdershins is a thief who once had a chance to become part of the aristocracy, but a horrific event forced her to return to her old ways. What she doesn't realize is the fact that her surviving that horrific event has drawn her into something far darker and deadlier than even those at the highest level of power suspect. It not only affects the aristocracy and the thieves' guild, but the church as well.

This was a well-plotted and well-written book. Once I started reading, I was drawn into the story and kept there, mostly by the characters in the book, which were all interesting and unique. The characters were, in fact, one of the best aspects of the book, the best being Widdershins herself by far. The plot was convoluted, but ultimately made sense. The setting was, perhaps, a little close to Dungeon & Dragons in nature, but certainly didn't detract from the book. Again, the characters pulled this up to a different level.

My only complaint/concern was that there were a significant number of time jumps in between chapters in this book. I'm not afraid of time jumps (if you've ever read my books, you'll know this), but in this case, there were approximately four different time periods that readers were expected to keep track off, and a number of jumps back and forth between them. Some readers will find this difficult to follow, even though there are clear headers in each chapter as to which time period each is set in. This time jumping is, really, the only reason I didn't give this book five stars.

But again, in the end I think the characters and plot save the book. It was a fun, fast-paced read, with some great humor to off-set some of the rather violent and darker turns at points. As I said, I'll definitely be reading the sequel to this book, and be looking for Ari Marmell's other books as well.
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