Review: Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers #1) by Brenda Drake

Hi guys! I hope you all had a wonderful winter holiday! This review should've gone up three days ago but work has been crazy busy for me so I didn't have time to finish my review till now, sorry! Anyways, here are my thoughts on this library adventure ;)

Thief of Lies
(Library Jumpers #1)

by Brenda Drake

January 5, 2016

400 pages
 

Goodreads  Indigo
 

Goodreads Summary:

Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels-magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books-rescue them from a demonic hound.

Jumping into some of the world's most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren't busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik's world and her own, before both are destroyed.

Review

 

A story that gives libraries another meaning. "...You can never be lonely in the company of books," (eARC, Loc 58) but Thief of Lies brings it to a whole other level. Think noise, lots of it. Running, shouting, clashing (all after hours of course), Ms. Drake brings us a magically-complex, history-filled world with thrills and frights.

 

Thief of Lies features a whole new world with Sentinels- beings charged with keeping the human world safe from demonic creatures. Each Sentinel fights and/or defends by using something called a globe. The concept of the globes is really unique and I was eager to learn all the different types. One downside to this book is that the story can be overwhelming at times. The amount of characters and number of plotlines being covered gave me a slight headache. I am, however, really invested in finding out how the past is going to spin its way into the present.

Like most human, Gia grew up unaware of a magic world until one day, she accidentally gets sucked into a magical book. Quickly, we discover she plays a bigger role than an average sentinel because she's the offspring of two Sentinels. She's the prophesized one. *cue dramatic music* The one destined to bring destruction to the Mystik world. I thought Ms. Drake handled Gia's characterization very well. Transforming from a nobody into a fighter was no easy task but Gia persevered. She even does it with a sense of humour calling herself the Doomsday Child. I expect great things from her in future books.

The pacing of the book was somewhat off. One moment Gia's learning the truth, then she's training, the next moment she's thrown into battle and then she's deciphering history, solving a murder and then she's back at fights. It was disorienting and gave me an odd feeling. Some plotlines were also very abrupt. Especially the one where we discover Nick is not just Gia's friend, he's her cousin and his father is the villain wizard, Conemar. The shock factor was there but I felt like it appeared out of nowhere. And whether this is a good or bad discovery remains to be seen in the next books.

I'm really sad to be saying this but I did not enjoy the romance between Gia and Arik. It was insta-like. The whispers of promises were sweet but overall I didn't feel a connection between the two. It doesn't help that I felt Gia was very juvenile with her jealousy. Wrong place. Wrong time. Also, there's a big set up near the end that I'm not particularly fond of: a love triangle coming full speed our way!

While I felt the story could've have done with fewer characters and less side plots, Thief of Lies proves to be a bright beginning to a fun fantasy series. Will the characters ever jump out of my library? Probably not, but one can always hope :P

*I received an eARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way. All quotes were taken from the Advance Review Copy I received.