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ruthalice's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
2.0
A circus performer-come-jewel thief gets tangled in a steampunk-style adventure in Victorian London. It turned out to be very much a child’s book, I had hoped that wouldn’t affect my enjoyment of it, but it did. Despite having the bones of a great adventure, it began to feel very cliche in parts and I was cringing a lot as the story went on - It could. however, be a good choice for 11-14-year-olds.
libby_sarah's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This has been sat on my shelf for 8 years! Glad to have finally read it. The main reasons I still read children and young teen books are 1) because they can be fun 2) I’m a teacher and like to keep updated with books to recommend to my children.
So I would this is a fairly good Victorian mystery (with a slight hint of steampunk and fantasy) for children. I would say it’s on the older side of 9-12 so unfortunately a bit older than the children I teach. So not one that I can recommend to my class. It is a bit cliche with some of the plot but on the whole, a fun little mystery book involving some crazy acrobatics and inventions.
So I would this is a fairly good Victorian mystery (with a slight hint of steampunk and fantasy) for children. I would say it’s on the older side of 9-12 so unfortunately a bit older than the children I teach. So not one that I can recommend to my class. It is a bit cliche with some of the plot but on the whole, a fun little mystery book involving some crazy acrobatics and inventions.
melissasbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
Fun steampunk novel set in England in the late 1800's. A thief and inspector have to work to recover a lost diamond and stop a madman. This is full of plenty of action, steampunk machines, and a light romance. A pretty good YA read. I'd probably read the next book in the series.
nadyapont's review against another edition
3.0
kind of hard to get through the middle
okay storyline
more adventure than mystery
okay storyline
more adventure than mystery
_camk_'s review against another edition
2.0
In regards to this book - another review by a Goodreader called Krishna sums up all that is wrong with this book. I found myself picking at flaws on every page. The plot is boringly far fetched and evident.
The main point of irritation for me was the love story - boy admits after one week of knowing girl, he loves her. Gosling even writes in the book how silly it is. It is super silly, especially since Remy and Thaddeaus didn't even have one meaningful conversation to get to know each other in book.
Spoiler
Also, where did the fire magic come from?The main point of irritation for me was the love story - boy admits after one week of knowing girl, he loves her. Gosling even writes in the book how silly it is. It is super silly, especially since Remy and Thaddeaus didn't even have one meaningful conversation to get to know each other in book.
kpeet's review against another edition
2.0
**I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
**2.5 stars**
Gosling is gifted in her world-building. Vivid descriptions abound of places, people, and events. Everything is imaginable with crystal-clear quality...almost to a fault. In a few instances I found the descriptions tiresome and boring. However! The story itself is far from boring. Reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes (perhaps because of the similar time period), the plot is full of intrigue. Not to Doyle's standard but a great effort nonetheless.
Thaddeus also made for a strong supportive character, if not misguided by a forced romance. In the beginning he was marked by sound moral character and conviction...by the end, he was flimsy like plastic wrap, bent to Rémy's wishes.
One of the biggest problems is that the romance felt very inauthentic. Rémy wants nothing to do with love but mere pages later she is casting furtive glances in Thaddeus's direction and he was telling her he loved her. I didn't buy it.
Other problems were more minor. J's voice was awful. There is a line between authentic and overdone and Gosling landed far on the latter side. The Professor, Thaddeus, and Desai all lacked any real backstory and seemed to me to merely serve a function and be done with it. The traitor, the lover, and the sage. How did Desai get his powers? That was never explained, and all the characters seemed to accept that. Another issue was that I often felt like I was being told what to feel or think instead of being shown, something universally frowned upon in literature.
I also didn't buy the ending. Everything wrapped up really nicely and way too cleanly with too little effort for my taste. How did Rémy and Thaddeus escape? They just happened to be on the shore? The mute just happened to tell everyone where Rémy was taken to after someone guessed where she was at and took her home?
Abernathy wasn't a believable villain. Because his plans were rejected by his peers, he suddenly turns mad and decides to take down the entire government of the British Empire. That's convenient. He never scared or shocked me. Most of the time I thought he was a bit silly and I was waiting for the real villain to appear.
Summary
This book was just okay for me. It had a lot of potential but fell short when it really mattered. Superficial characters, a too-perfect ending, and a weak villain made this book suffer. Not an awful read, but not anything to get overly excited about. A good read if you don't expect too much.
**2.5 stars**
Gosling is gifted in her world-building. Vivid descriptions abound of places, people, and events. Everything is imaginable with crystal-clear quality...almost to a fault. In a few instances I found the descriptions tiresome and boring. However! The story itself is far from boring. Reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes (perhaps because of the similar time period), the plot is full of intrigue. Not to Doyle's standard but a great effort nonetheless.
Thaddeus also made for a strong supportive character, if not misguided by a forced romance. In the beginning he was marked by sound moral character and conviction...by the end, he was flimsy like plastic wrap, bent to Rémy's wishes.
One of the biggest problems is that the romance felt very inauthentic. Rémy wants nothing to do with love but mere pages later she is casting furtive glances in Thaddeus's direction and he was telling her he loved her. I didn't buy it.
Other problems were more minor. J's voice was awful. There is a line between authentic and overdone and Gosling landed far on the latter side. The Professor, Thaddeus, and Desai all lacked any real backstory and seemed to me to merely serve a function and be done with it. The traitor, the lover, and the sage. How did Desai get his powers? That was never explained, and all the characters seemed to accept that. Another issue was that I often felt like I was being told what to feel or think instead of being shown, something universally frowned upon in literature.
I also didn't buy the ending. Everything wrapped up really nicely and way too cleanly with too little effort for my taste. How did Rémy and Thaddeus escape? They just happened to be on the shore? The mute just happened to tell everyone where Rémy was taken to after someone guessed where she was at and took her home?
Abernathy wasn't a believable villain. Because his plans were rejected by his peers, he suddenly turns mad and decides to take down the entire government of the British Empire. That's convenient. He never scared or shocked me. Most of the time I thought he was a bit silly and I was waiting for the real villain to appear.
Summary
This book was just okay for me. It had a lot of potential but fell short when it really mattered. Superficial characters, a too-perfect ending, and a weak villain made this book suffer. Not an awful read, but not anything to get overly excited about. A good read if you don't expect too much.
mary_r_m's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to netgalley.com and Capstone for allowing me access to this title.
A delightful read. It had a bit of everything: a great heist, mystery, and a bit of romance. Very endearing charaters.
A delightful read. It had a bit of everything: a great heist, mystery, and a bit of romance. Very endearing charaters.
momoclouds's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
anniedelsignore's review against another edition
3.0
Review at Books, A Novel Idea
*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Okay, so this book has a lot of my favorite things: Victorian circuses, thievery, diamonds, and curses. Add on an adorable all-about-the-law police officer and I'm immediately hooked. So basically, premise-wise, I loved this book from the beginning, but unfortunately, it didn't really live up to my expectations.
What I liked: The story. Like I said, many of my favorite story tropes in one book is like a dream come true. It was fast paced and action packed and I loved seeing Rémy use her circus training to beat up on the bad guys. I also really liked her hesitation to fall in love and lack of hesitation in being fiercely independent and (not in a bad way) self-centered. Now, I think my absolute favorite thing about this book was little J. Can I get a J spin-off or novela or something pretty please? He's the perfect sidekick and I'm ready for him to have his own plot now.
What I didn't like: There was something about the way The Diamond Thief was written that kind of bothered me. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was, but it was there. I wanted to see more of the circus, more of the magic and mystery and romanticism that surrounds it (or maybe The Night Circus set my expectations too high). I also thought that there were some times when the plot was confusing and seemed a bit too much. There were times when it was super unrealistic (nobody can almost die that many times and not actually die), and the plot holes distracted from an interesting story. It was like everything was a bit too convenient and solved with ease.
It's worth a read, especially if you're into steampunk, historical, or fantasy. And the setting is vivid and there's magic that shows up every once in a while. Basically, it's pretty fun and fast once you can get over all the other problems.
*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Okay, so this book has a lot of my favorite things: Victorian circuses, thievery, diamonds, and curses. Add on an adorable all-about-the-law police officer and I'm immediately hooked. So basically, premise-wise, I loved this book from the beginning, but unfortunately, it didn't really live up to my expectations.
What I liked: The story. Like I said, many of my favorite story tropes in one book is like a dream come true. It was fast paced and action packed and I loved seeing Rémy use her circus training to beat up on the bad guys. I also really liked her hesitation to fall in love and lack of hesitation in being fiercely independent and (not in a bad way) self-centered. Now, I think my absolute favorite thing about this book was little J. Can I get a J spin-off or novela or something pretty please? He's the perfect sidekick and I'm ready for him to have his own plot now.
What I didn't like: There was something about the way The Diamond Thief was written that kind of bothered me. I can't put my finger on exactly what it was, but it was there. I wanted to see more of the circus, more of the magic and mystery and romanticism that surrounds it (or maybe The Night Circus set my expectations too high). I also thought that there were some times when the plot was confusing and seemed a bit too much. There were times when it was super unrealistic (nobody can almost die that many times and not actually die), and the plot holes distracted from an interesting story. It was like everything was a bit too convenient and solved with ease.
It's worth a read, especially if you're into steampunk, historical, or fantasy. And the setting is vivid and there's magic that shows up every once in a while. Basically, it's pretty fun and fast once you can get over all the other problems.