Review: Thief of Cahraman by Lucy Tempest

Thief of Cahraman (Fairytales of Folkshore: Book One)
Author: Lucy Tempest
Length: 322 Pages
Genre: YA Fantasy
Published: July 2018 (Folkshore Press)

Rating:   

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Goodreads Synopsis: After years on the run, Adelaide thinks her lonely and dangerous life as a thief is finally over. But her world is upended when a witch steals her away to a faraway kingdom, to perform an impossible heist. If Adelaide fails, her newfound family would be sacrificed to a beast. To complete her mission, she’s forced to assume the role of a noblewoman and enter a royal competition. The prize is the hand of the elusive Crown Prince. Elimination means certain death. As the witch’s literal deadline approaches, Adelaide has one last gamble to save the day, and to escape to a new life with Cyrus, the handsome and mysterious fellow thief who stole her heart. But everything falls apart when the prince finally reveals himself…

The Thief of Cahraman is a delightful, fast-paced story following our young thief as she is whisked away and forced to compete in a bride selection as cover for her casing the palace. The beginning of the book was a bit rough around the edges. It felt like the author wasn’t sure what she wanted Adelaide’s voice and personality to reflect. The vocabulary chosen at the beginning made it seem so formal, reminiscent of Regency-era dialogue, rather than the coarse casual verbiage that would be used by a pub worker/thief.

We meet Adelaide (Ada) as she slinks around a local noble family’s home looking for items to steal in revenge for the lady of the house causing trouble at the local pub where she is employed. After reading about Ada nearly bungling the whole thing, I am convinced that the only reason she hasn’t been caught is due to some sort of charm / incredible luck. However, a witch seems to think she is good enough and kidnaps her, whisking her away to a foreign land and blackmails her into seeking out a golden lamp, Ada is tossed into the competition to become queen and finds that it won’t be as easy as she was hoping.

There are parts of Ada I really enjoy. I love the spunky moments and impatience with Cyrus and his mischief, and yet the crippling doubt and anxiety that she suffers from didn’t feel real to me. I think the descriptions just didn’t resonate with my own experiences so I felt it lacking. I didn’t care for how instant Ada’s attraction to Cyrus was. He was just so attractive that she found herself immediately wanting him to run away with her. Girl, what do you have to offer him? You work in a pub and sleep in a friend’s home in a twin size bed. While there isn’t anything wrong with that, it also isn’t a particularly tempting offer. That said, the attraction seemed more gradual on Cyrus’s part which I appreciated but they haven’t spent enough time together for deep affection to blossom. I’m hoping that the next two books include moments that show their relationship.

I wish the author had spent more time building up the characters and giving them their own unique voices/personalities. Cherine was a two-dimensional character. A typical vapid miss with a loud mouth and disdain for those she feels are inferior to her. Poor Cora had me laughing during and after each test and I started looking forward to her grumping and dismay towards advancing. I can totally relate to her limited and non-participation because I do that with board games.

**Spoiler Complaints Be Ahead**

Cherine’s declaration after the second challenge that Ada is her bestie came out of left field. I really wish we had seen more growth in their friendship before that moment even if Ada was oblivious like she was regarding the identity of the prince. It was so very obvious who the prince was but I suspect the author wasn’t intending to truly hide his identity from us. Ada is so dense that she didn’t notice and it was a bit painful to watch her put her foot in her mouth. There were at least two moments when I was desperate for her to just stop talking.

Also, it made me super uncomfortable that Ayman was sneaking into the girls’ room and just creeping on Cherine. It was funny when it was a ghoul, not so cute when his identity was revealed. Ada makes a comment to the effect of “oh look how gentle and loving Ayman is with her, he has fallen in love with Cherine” and my knee-jerk comment is “NO! The guy is probably a serial killer and wants to wear her skin!”

This may say more about me and my trust issues than it does Ayman and his infatuation with Cherine.

**End of spoilers**

Even with the rough start and some issues with the characters, I still devoured the book and immediately set about finding the second book and stalking the author. I enjoy retellings of folktales like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast and this was no exception. I’m hoping the author continues on this path of strengthening her writer’s voice because she truly has potential.

**I received a copy of this book through NetGalley at my own request in return for an honest review.