Review: Thief's Covenant - Ari Marmell

Once she was Adrienne Satti. An orphan of Davillon, she had somehow escaped destitution and climbed to the ranks of the city’s aristocracy in a rags-to-riches story straight from an ancient fairy tale. Until one horrid night, when a conspiracy of forces—human and other—stole it all away in a flurry of blood and murder. 


Today she is Widdershins, a thief making her way through Davillon’s underbelly with a sharp blade, a sharper wit, and the mystical aid of Olgun, a foreign god with no other worshippers but Widdershins herself. It’s not a great life, certainly nothing compared to the one she once had, but it’s hers. 


But now, in the midst of Davillon’s political turmoil, an array of hands are once again rising up against her, prepared to tear down all that she’s built. The City Guard wants her in prison. Members of her own Guild want her dead. And something horrid, something dark, something ancient is reaching out for her, a past that refuses to let her go. Widdershins and Olgun are going to find answers, and justice, for what happened to her—but only if those who almost destroyed her in those years gone by don’t finish the job first.

Series: Widdershins #1, Genre: Fantasy/ YA, Pages: 240, Published: Feb 21, 2012, Publisher: PYR, Source: For review

My thoughts:

I have read other books by Marmell, and even though this one is YA it's still bloody, but not that violent. How to explain, people die, a lot, but it's not shown as it would be in an adult book. Still, poor Widdershins.

At first I was not sure if I would like how it jumped in time, but it worked perfectly. Because each flashback showed me something new. First we got Widdershins as she is now, a young thief with few friends. Then there is poor Adrienne, alone on the streets, a pick-pocket among others. Then there is Adrienne, a young woman of means (and it sure made me wonder how she got there, but I found out.) Things that happened two years ago made Adrienne stop being Adrienne, and Widdershins was born. I liked her, she was tough and she has the best sidekick. A God who she can hear, but that the reader can't hear. But I could still see him in my mind and he was too funny.

The story is about a lot of people hunting Widdershins, for different reasons. But it is all connected, even if I will not say how and why. The story worked so well and there was even a surprise gasp from me, oh I loved that surprise. Bravo. But I am being  tease now since I will not tell you what that was.

Being the girl I am I am hoping for a romance to blossom, how it would work I do not know, but it is there ;) I am looking forward to book 2 to see if anything happens.

Conclusion:

The ever so cool Widdershins made this my fav Marmell book to date. I liked that the book was dark, yet light and it did not end with a cliffie either which is always appreciated. But still I do want to know what happens next, because things are far from over. I would recommend this one to fantasy lovers, young and old.

Cover:

I really like it.