Thief Review + GIVEAWAY!

Thief (Sevy #1)

- Sarah-Jane Lehoux

Publisher: Mundania Press

In the crumbling city of Eloria, there is one indisputable fact: everyone has a price. Protestations of morality and better judgment have little meaning when confronted with the chance to obtain the unobtainable. The only question remaining is just how much a person is willing to sacrifice in order to win their heart’s desire. Sevy has always been a quick study in the wicked ways of Eloria. She has no qualms about taking what she wants, and when the love of her life is mysteriously murdered, Sevy will stop at nothing to get him back. Elvish black magic, necromancy and demonic pacts are of little consequence if it means she can once again have her beloved at her side. But is she willing to murder her only friend to get the job done?

I love strong women in my novels – and fantasy does seem to be a little behind the times with strong female characters (I’m grateful to say that has been changing rapidly in the last few years!), but with Sevy we have one tough woman. She is tough, quick to anger, resourceful and doesn’t trust easily. When we first meet her she is a young thief in Eloria, struggling to eat and survive. It’s easy to feel for her, but as the years past she become hard and doesn’t always make the right decisions. Sevy seems to get harder and more brittle as time passes. It got to the point where I’m not sure I liked her much by the end – and really didn’t know how she would react in some situations - but I sure respected her and still cared for her. Sevy would rather fight than think and is quick to action while Jarro and Revik are the more thoughtful characters – but can hold their own in a fight. Jarro is the gang leader who takes her in and trains her. He is the traditional Robin Hood style leader – a thief with a heart of gold and a nice counter-point to Sevy. He’s charming but with a bit of blind spot when it comes to women.

My favourite character by far is the dark elf Revik – he is Jarro’s second is command and teaches Sevy how to fight. Revik is smart and loyal – and he really does want the best for everyone. However, don’t worry there is no love triangle here! However, the rumours and fears about dark elves are intriguing – especially when contrasted with the actual culture of the elves. I loved learning about their society and set up – it seems so unique and different! I hope to find out more in the next book.

At first this feels like different stories with the same characters as the plot moves forward several years between sections. It’s not until the final part that many strands come together and the full scale of what has been happening. That’s when things get really tense and you don’t know how it will end. With the world now set up, I’m looking forward to the next book Shades of War to explore what happens to Sevy next!

Recommended for fans of Karen Miller and Rachel Aaron. 8 out of 10  

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Today I have a special giveaway for you all!! I have 3 copies of Thief and Shades of War by Sarah-Jane Lehoux to give-away courtesy of Sara-Jane herself and my good friend Melissa from My World in words and pages! It's PDF copy as such it's open internationally. All you have to do is fill in the form below. Open until 29th October - Good Luck!