The Diamond Thief
by Sharon Gosling
Series: The Diamond Thief #1
Published on October 1st, 2014
by Capstone
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult
Format: ARC
Source: BEA
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No-one performs on the circus trapeze like 16-year-old Remy Brunel. But Remy also leads another life, prowling through the backstreets of Victorian London as a jewel thief. When she is forced to steal one of the world's most valuable diamonds, she uncovers a world of treachery and fiendish plots.
Look at that cover! The outfit. The diamond behind her back. The shaded eyes and mysterious expression. The gears in the letter “O”. If you couldn’t tell, I love this cover; I’ve recently discovered that I am a SUCKER for book covers and The Diamond Thief, with all that it had going on, sucked me in. Since finishing this book, I appreciate this cover even more because of all the minute details that allude to the book.
The Diamond Thief was a fun and quick read; the characters and situations were set up very early which allowed for the plot to get rolling right off the bat. The story is about Rémy Brunel, a trapeze performer in a circus of thieves, who attempts to steal the Dayra-ye Noor (a famous and precious diamond) and Thaddeus Rec, the young detective, who tries to protect this it. Through a series of events, these two are forced to work together towards a common goal.
Rémy and Thaddeus couldn’t be more opposite, a cat and a mouse essentially, which made it intriguing to see how their opinions changed throughout the book. It’s told through two viewpoints, probably in hopes of establishing these characters as two separate entities. Do I think that it needed the dual POVs? No. I didn’t feel like it added anything to the story; I could have been just as happy, if not more, with just Rémy telling the story.
As with most books, these two characters find out that they aren’t as different as they had originally thought; it allows for these characters to see past themselves and to really understand the other person. There were some interesting plot developments that we didn’t get to see through but I’m hoping that they’ll be further explained in the sequel.
Rémy and Thaddeus were only two in a ragtime team of misfits trying to fight against the big bad guy; the other characters were fun though not well developed. J, a boy who entered both of their lives separately, was my favorite character because he brought a comedic relief but he also brought with him the enormity of what they were doing.
The book was chalk full of role reversals and I loved it; Sharon took stereotypes that we are familiar with (weak girls, wise older men) and completely flipped them on their heads. It was probably my favorite aspect of the book because as a reader, I enjoy inverting my views.
This book does contain the weirdest case of “instalove” that I’ve ever read about and to honest, I didn’t really care about; the plot and mystery was compelling to me but the romance was quite lacking.
Overall it was a fun read! I finished it pretty quickly and I ended up really enjoying it.
About Sharon Gosling
Sharon Gosling began her career in entertainment journalism, writing for magazines in the science fiction and fantasy genre, before moving on to write tie-in books for TV shows such as “Stargate” and the ‘reimagined’ “Battlestar Galactica.”
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Twitter: Liza
I’m also a cover lover and you’re right, this cover is beautiful. I do enjoy historical fiction, but I’m not a big fan of Instalove either. Do you think you would read the sequel? Great job 🙂
I do think I’ll read the sequel. I got it from NetGalley last month and I think the story has a lot left to be discovered, I hope that a lot of loose ends will get tied up.
Twitter: Bieke Paesen
I’m not the biggest fan of Historical fiction so I’m not sure if I’m going to read this. Glad you enjoyed it though!
I’m not the hugest historical fan either but I am slowly trying them out. I’ve heard Katherine Longshore is amazing so I think I might try some of her books to see how much I like them.