Thieves at Heart
The Valley of Ten Crescents, Book #1
By Tristan J. Tarwater
Review brought to you by OBS staff member Annabell
Synopsis:
Tavera is a half-elf child in a land of humans, an outsider dragged from bad to worse–until Derk whisks her away and adopts her as his own. Tavera soon finds out her new Pa is a master thief, a member of a secret, elite group of professional scoundrels called the Cup of Cream. Outlaws, yes, but they have their pride; thievery is as necessary as any other profession in the Valley of Ten Crescents.
To Derk’s–and her own–delight, Tavera grows into a natural thief and works her way toward membership in the Cup. An invitation would finally give her a place to belong, and it would please the father she loves so much.
But being a thief means being only one step ahead of the law. When the law finally catches up, Tavera must choose: go against her Pa’s wishes for the sake of loyalty and love; or obey him, break her heart and survive.
Review:
I had been very curious about this book from the moment I read the synopsis. I thought the idea of a girl being raised in a world of thieves would be filled with action and adventure. Thieves at Heart was not that tale which was a big disappointment considering how much I was looking forward to reading about Tavera’s world.
Thieves at Heart starts off in a very interesting place with Tavera acting as a thief for the woman she was sold to who happens to also be a prostitute. Tavera is soon sold to a man named Drek who just so happens to be a thief but not just any thief, he belongs to the Cup of Cream—an elite group of professional thieves. Sounds like the plot of a dark and terrifying adventure, right? The problem was as soon as Tavera is taken by Drek and their journey begins the plot is nowhere to be seen!
There is no climax. No arch to the tale. The plot becomes flat and nothing ever really happens. Tavera steals, has a few moments with Drek and his elite gang of robbers, gets her period then sleeps around with anything that looks like a man which was disturbing since she was thirteen. Or at least, I think she was thirteen. Tavera’s age was never really revealed until she became thirteen years old and she had been with Drek for seven years so keeping track of time that passed was difficult.
The only really redeeming quality to the book was the setting. The descriptions of the places Tavera and Drek visited throughout the book were detailed and were solid.
The book just wasn’t that interesting due to the lack of depth in plot and characters. It was a decent debut by a first time Indie author. I hope she will learn to better develop the pacing of the plot and the content in future novels. I wish her the best of luck.
