Tuesday, December 29, 2015

REVIEW: Thief of Lies by Brenda Drake



Thief of Lies (Library Jumpers, #1)
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. 


I received an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.




MY THOUGHTS
I've been waiting to read this book for almost two years, since the book was titled "Library Jumpers". That was all I needed to know in order to need this book! This book wasn't as much as I hoped for, mostly due to the romance, but the fantasy elements were amazing and I did enjoy this book!

After being sucked into a book and ending up in a library in Paris, Gia's life is changed forever. They discover Sentinels, magical knights that travel across libraries to protect the human race from various creatures. Now, Gia and her friends are in danger from these creatures and whether they like it or not, they're now in this new world. Gia may be involved more than she realized.

The main idea behind this book sounds absolutely fantastic! A fantasy that is based around libraries? A booknerd's dream! I loved the idea behind this book! This book also has a very complex magic system. I thought that all the magical and fantasy elements were very interesting. They were a bit hard for me to wrap my head around at first, but in the end, I was very impressed by the world Brenda Drake created.

A lot did definitely happen in this book, which may also factor why my head was spinning so much. Gia also founds out a whole lot of stuff in a short period of time, some about the world, some about her, some about other things. There is a lot of information in this book and I still feel like I don't know anything, that there are answers that I still need. I hope my questions will be answered in the other books in the series!

Gia is a lover of libraries and a bit of a tomboy. I liked Gia. She annoyed me at points, due to the romance (which I will get to), but she was a great MC most of the time. We're thrown into this world with Gia and both of us are still trying to understand it. She cares deeply for her friends and family, and on that thought, they too are really great characters. I can't say that I love her as an MC though. She's great, but I've read many books with similar MCs.

The romance is the main reason why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I wanted to. I don't have much luck with romance in books and it's very hard for me to like a romance in books because it's just so easy for an annoying trope to sneak in. This book was no different. First of all, once a guy was described as hot and with a snazzy accent, I knew that we've found the love interest. The romance just felt too much like insta-love. Arik is not a bad guy, but sometimes all I ever really felt the attraction was based on was the fact that he was really hot, because Gia thought about that a lot. I know there was more to it, but it happened so fast! Add in the fact that of course it was forbidden and of course there's some really hot French girl, with big boobs, hanging around Arik. I'm sorry, but I'm getting sick of these tropes in YA. Maybe eventually, as the series continues, I'll be less annoyed. Also, another guy was introduced and is it wrong that I actually want a love triangle? I kind of want to know more about the other guy.

IN CONCLUSION
Okay, despite my annoyance with the romance, this was a great book. It introduced a very new and unique fantasy world with a very complex magic system! I enjoyed reading this book and I'm very curious what will happen next as the series continues.

I hereby give this book
3.5 Stars
Meaning: I liked it, but it wasn't quite amazing.

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