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Queen of Thieves
If saving your family meant becoming your nightmare, could you do it?
Everyone knows Yaksah, The King of Thieves, is not to be trifled with. His swiftness and stealth are legendary. Nothing valuable is safe from his nimble, sticky fingers.
But the King and the city of Vymn aren't all they appear. Yaksah has a secret... and Ahd, a simple woodcutter, could expose it to the world. Keeping it though, gives Ahd an upper hand over Yaksah like no one's ever had. It may save his life… or destroy them both.
Everyone knows Yaksah, The King of Thieves, is not to be trifled with. His swiftness and stealth are legendary. Nothing valuable is safe from his nimble, sticky fingers.
But the King and the city of Vymn aren't all they appear. Yaksah has a secret... and Ahd, a simple woodcutter, could expose it to the world. Keeping it though, gives Ahd an upper hand over Yaksah like no one's ever had. It may save his life… or destroy them both.
96 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 20, 2019
2 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 15, 2019
My mind is blown!!!
October 17, 2019
This story was amazing! It's a super unique spin on an old fairy tale and I loved it. I've been craving a story that's short and quick to the point, and this one delivered.
Past and present were woven together in a way that really amped it up, showing the way lives tangle together very well. Splitting up the glimpses into the past set up a good pace of revelations.
The culture in the book was vivid and intriguing. The occasional phrases (with definitions in the back) in hindi was a nice touch.
My ONLY criticism is that there were typos. But I find those in everything because they're in everything. No one can possibly catch all of them.
No continuity errors. No overly lengthy paragraphs or unexpected POV switches.
Just a great story.
Anyone looking for a good fairytale retelling should read this.
Past and present were woven together in a way that really amped it up, showing the way lives tangle together very well. Splitting up the glimpses into the past set up a good pace of revelations.
The culture in the book was vivid and intriguing. The occasional phrases (with definitions in the back) in hindi was a nice touch.
My ONLY criticism is that there were typos. But I find those in everything because they're in everything. No one can possibly catch all of them.
No continuity errors. No overly lengthy paragraphs or unexpected POV switches.
Just a great story.
Anyone looking for a good fairytale retelling should read this.
June 15, 2024
A unique Ali Baba retelling, fresh!
A retelling of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves with the leader being a woman, snatched by the robbers as a teen. While I thought this was going to be a novel, it was actually a short story, posing questions of survival as well as ‘how do you end up being a thief?’ While not entirely believable in some parts (a girl, alone amidst 35 men being able to keep her identity secret stretches the imagination a bit too far, but hey, this is fantasy), it was an interesting take on the folk tale from the 1001 Nights.
Recommended for lovers of 1001 Nights retellings where the protagonist is a strong heroine with good moral scruples.
A retelling of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves with the leader being a woman, snatched by the robbers as a teen. While I thought this was going to be a novel, it was actually a short story, posing questions of survival as well as ‘how do you end up being a thief?’ While not entirely believable in some parts (a girl, alone amidst 35 men being able to keep her identity secret stretches the imagination a bit too far, but hey, this is fantasy), it was an interesting take on the folk tale from the 1001 Nights.
Recommended for lovers of 1001 Nights retellings where the protagonist is a strong heroine with good moral scruples.
June 13, 2020
After spotting the cover of this book on my amazon recommendations I though that a boon with such a dazzling, elegant cover could only hide similar gems within its pages. I was, unfortunately, very much mistaken.
I was impressed with the inisital story idea and the first 2 chapters really intrigued and thrilled me. However I felt very let down by the rest of the book. The "big reveal" was - I felt - introduced and far too walry and the whole suspense of the book seemed to vanish from that moment on. I only slugged on for the rest of the book as it was so short and if it had been longer, I would have put it down after chapter 4.
The only redeeming part was chapter 7, the descriptions and dark turn chapter 7 took really thrilled me and caught my attention and made me feel that maybe the main character wasn't as limp as she appeared but then the whole dark and powerful aura vanished for the rest of the book.
I felt the idea had merit and could have been executed much better, leaving us wanting more at the end of each chapter and making us feel for the cast of characters but honestly, the whole cast felt limp and even when "twists" were introduced they didn't feel thrilling or clever but rather predictable and unimaginative.
The relationship between Yasha and Nagu was pointless IMHO. Too coincidental and not explored enough. It felt he was only introduced to further her own means and not a realistic enough situation. I was prepared to overlook it with the hope he would play a bigger part later on but then he vanishes from the book and his whole appearance feels pretty pointless.
I did like the few short scenes between Yasha and Rav but would have liked it explored more. And the whole scene with her mother and brother at the Bure Sapane... Anticlimactic and ridiculous. I mean, you kill the king of theives, your brother calls you Yasha (a girl's name) in front of them all (when your name is supposed to be Yaksha) when you're supposed to be a boy, and then all the bure Sapane just kneel to you when the author made it clear that they did not tolerate women and they were not allowed in the brotherhood...?
So either they realised she was a girl and their whole ideology of "no women" was just extinguished in one fell swoop by a wimpy teenager, or they were all oblivious to her brothers comment and the brotherhood of thieves is nothing more than a band of mindless sheep following whatever leader came along no matter how unqualified or pathetic they are. And THAT is what threw the believability of the situation out of the window.
Oh and don't even get me started on how unnecessary Ahd and his "very-well-thought-out plot twist" was to this whole story. Just no.
And that ending... anticlimactic as hell, I am so disappointed. The cover is beautiful but I felt very unfitting for the whole feel of the book. I think it should have really portrayed the physical way Yasha looked in her role as "Queen of theives" and the use of purple felt really off looking back at the whole aura and feel of the book. I have no negative comments on the cover itself but feel a different one would have better portrayed the themes of this book clearer.
The formatting inside was also very off. I'm unsure if C. J. Kavanaugh hired a formatting editor but if she did... Oh boy! I purchased this from amazon so know I have an official copy but the page and paragraph formatting was waaaaay off. Several sentences cut off abruptly and incorrectly set as a new paragraph as well as many instances of dialogue between 2 people being merged in to 1 paragraph instead of a new line for each new characters stream of speech. Just needed a lot of work done to fix it. This too added to the feel that it was a rushed 1st draft and had not been edited or tightened properly.
I really did want to like this book, and it did have a few good bits of dialogue, narration, or plot points, but in the whole it felt like I was reading a rough first draft of a book and could have done with a lot more editing to tighten up the story.
I was impressed with the inisital story idea and the first 2 chapters really intrigued and thrilled me. However I felt very let down by the rest of the book. The "big reveal" was - I felt - introduced and far too walry and the whole suspense of the book seemed to vanish from that moment on. I only slugged on for the rest of the book as it was so short and if it had been longer, I would have put it down after chapter 4.
The only redeeming part was chapter 7, the descriptions and dark turn chapter 7 took really thrilled me and caught my attention and made me feel that maybe the main character wasn't as limp as she appeared but then the whole dark and powerful aura vanished for the rest of the book.
I felt the idea had merit and could have been executed much better, leaving us wanting more at the end of each chapter and making us feel for the cast of characters but honestly, the whole cast felt limp and even when "twists" were introduced they didn't feel thrilling or clever but rather predictable and unimaginative.
The relationship between Yasha and Nagu was pointless IMHO. Too coincidental and not explored enough. It felt he was only introduced to further her own means and not a realistic enough situation. I was prepared to overlook it with the hope he would play a bigger part later on but then he vanishes from the book and his whole appearance feels pretty pointless.
I did like the few short scenes between Yasha and Rav but would have liked it explored more. And the whole scene with her mother and brother at the Bure Sapane... Anticlimactic and ridiculous. I mean, you kill the king of theives, your brother calls you Yasha (a girl's name) in front of them all (when your name is supposed to be Yaksha) when you're supposed to be a boy, and then all the bure Sapane just kneel to you when the author made it clear that they did not tolerate women and they were not allowed in the brotherhood...?
So either they realised she was a girl and their whole ideology of "no women" was just extinguished in one fell swoop by a wimpy teenager, or they were all oblivious to her brothers comment and the brotherhood of thieves is nothing more than a band of mindless sheep following whatever leader came along no matter how unqualified or pathetic they are. And THAT is what threw the believability of the situation out of the window.
Oh and don't even get me started on how unnecessary Ahd and his "very-well-thought-out plot twist" was to this whole story. Just no.
And that ending... anticlimactic as hell, I am so disappointed. The cover is beautiful but I felt very unfitting for the whole feel of the book. I think it should have really portrayed the physical way Yasha looked in her role as "Queen of theives" and the use of purple felt really off looking back at the whole aura and feel of the book. I have no negative comments on the cover itself but feel a different one would have better portrayed the themes of this book clearer.
The formatting inside was also very off. I'm unsure if C. J. Kavanaugh hired a formatting editor but if she did... Oh boy! I purchased this from amazon so know I have an official copy but the page and paragraph formatting was waaaaay off. Several sentences cut off abruptly and incorrectly set as a new paragraph as well as many instances of dialogue between 2 people being merged in to 1 paragraph instead of a new line for each new characters stream of speech. Just needed a lot of work done to fix it. This too added to the feel that it was a rushed 1st draft and had not been edited or tightened properly.
I really did want to like this book, and it did have a few good bits of dialogue, narration, or plot points, but in the whole it felt like I was reading a rough first draft of a book and could have done with a lot more editing to tighten up the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2020
First of all, I loved the concept behind this book. I wasn't sure which fairy tale it was supposed to be based on, but it felt like a cross between Mulan and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The characters were easy to relate to, and Yasha was a sympathetic heroine. That said, I also found the story rather confusing despite how short it was. It seemed to constantly jump around between different timelines, and I had trouble keeping track of when each chapter took place. It also wasn't clear at first that Yaksah and Yasha were the same person, which made me confused due to the similarity of their names until I realized that was her alias. I think this story could have worked better if it was told in chronological order.
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March 29, 2019My co-worker wrote a book and I’m so proud of her! My only critique is that I wish there had been more elaboration on certain parts of the story. I would have loved to know more about Yasha and Nagu’s time working together during the apprenticeship, and I think it would’ve been awesome to have a chapter from Cain’s point of view, leading up to his downfall. But I think the fact that I wanted to know more shows how much promise C.J. has as a writer. It’s a good thing for your audience to want to know more about the characters you’ve created, because it means they enjoyed the story enough to keep reading more! Keep up the good work, C.J.!
Edit to add: Also, this book cover is stunning!!
Edit to add: Also, this book cover is stunning!!
December 28, 2019
This was super good! I read it as part of 2 readathons for BookTube - IndieCember and Reindeer Readathon. I'll admit, I chose this book at first because of its gorgeous cover (and because I enjoyed Claerie Kavanaugh's other novel, Duet Rubato) but I was not disappointed! My full review will be coming to YouTube soon.
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April 1, 2021This book now has a coloring book companion! If you're looking for a fun and relaxing activity with your kids, check it out! Queen of Thieves: Coloring Book
January 14, 2020
I loved reading this book! It drew me on the first page. It's a heart warming tale about a young girl making the bravest sacrifice to save her family. Absolutely beautiful! I truly hope Kavanaugh makes it into a larger book though. I can truly see this hitting the cinema someday.
March 21, 2019
I received an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
A fun, quick read for all ages. Thoughtfully descriptive, creating visuals to draw you in from the beginning and hold you til the end.
A fun, quick read for all ages. Thoughtfully descriptive, creating visuals to draw you in from the beginning and hold you til the end.
February 20, 2019
***I RECIEVED AN ARC IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW ***
Queen of Thieves is an interesting classic fairytale retelling. Overall, I enjoyed this read. Yasha is a strong female character who does what needs to be done in order to protect her family, no matter the consequences to herself. The story has quite a few twists and turns, and a great plot! However, I will say I wish there was more to it in some sections. At times, it felt like events were very a little abrupt, and I wish there had been a little more detail for more insight. Despite that, I still highly recommend this book, and I look forward to seeing more from this author!
Queen of Thieves is an interesting classic fairytale retelling. Overall, I enjoyed this read. Yasha is a strong female character who does what needs to be done in order to protect her family, no matter the consequences to herself. The story has quite a few twists and turns, and a great plot! However, I will say I wish there was more to it in some sections. At times, it felt like events were very a little abrupt, and I wish there had been a little more detail for more insight. Despite that, I still highly recommend this book, and I look forward to seeing more from this author!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews