She’s the key to the cursed tomb that can save his people. He’s the prince who promises her the ultimate treasure—but only if she binds her soul to his own.
Cynthia’s magic is only good for one thing: raiding deadly tombs.
Desperate to buy a better future for her ailing sister, Cynthia enters a soul-binding bargain with a frustratingly handsome fae prince. Her task? Help him break into a king’s cursed tomb for the heist of a lifetime.
But allying with Desmond puts Cynthia in the crosshairs of his blood-soaked past. He’s scorned by his own kingdom, hunted by assassins, and infuriatingly sarcastic. Cynthia despises him—except he sees potential in her magic that she’s never dared to see in herself.
I have left off the end of the author blurb because it contains a big spoiler.
The following review of A Thief Among Fae, by Maddy Calder, is written after an ARC was provided by the author with no expectation of a good review.
That said, Maddy Calder is getting a good review. In fact, I’ve decided that I will only post a negative review of a book if there is something deeply disturbing that I feel I need to warn readers about. So if I read a book and just don’t like it, you won’t see a review.
On to all the things I did like about A Thief Among Fae. First up, Calder writes her trigger warnings in the same style as the novel, which I think is fun. It turns a dry but important document into something everyone should read. I personally think everyone should read trigger warnings anyway.
On to the plot, and we are straight into deadly peril, action and magic. This is not a cosy novel like my last review, in ATAF, actions have serious consequences. These consequences spill over into the rest of the book, influencing Cynthia’s (our heroine) choices. I felt an immediate connection to Cynthia, even though my home life and parental relationships are considerably better.
The romantasy genre has exploded in recent years and I’m a late convert. I appreciated the slow burn drip drip of the romance plot, the gentle teases of potential love triangles, and the fact that sexy scenes (not necessarily sex scenes) didn’t run to multiple pages. I don’t have a moral issue with ultra spicy novels, I’m just not enjoying reading those scenes at the moment.
We’ve dealt with the romance, now on to the violence. As I said, this is a book with high stakes and the violence levels reflect that. There are several battles and details of torture. Nothing is overly dwelt on, but it’s clear our characters have been through some dark times. One thing I liked about the battle scenes was how easy it was to keep track of the characters. Everything is very logical, so even with six or more people, I could keep up. This is something I’ve struggled with in other fantasy books.
The many characters include humans, fae, orcs, goblins and shapeshifters. The culture of each race is explored and each character has a complex set of motivations. I particularly enjoyed how morally ambiguous the characters can be. I also enjoyed the backstory of the war and the way religions are explained. I hope there will be more of the religious story and the way the characters practice their faiths in future books.
We know there will be future books because ATAF is book one of a trilogy. The first novel had a happier ending than I expected. No spoilers, but I thought enough plot threads were tied up for a satisfying finale, while still leaving enough scope for book two.
