Official Review: Adventures of a Thought Thief Part 1

[Elizabeth Pass]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Adventures of a Thought Thief Part 1" by Beverly Burchett.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Adventures of a Thought Thief Part 1 by Beverly Burchett is a fantasy book for young adults. It is easy to read and is a little over 200 pages long.

This book is only part one. The synopsis included on Amazon seems to talk more about the series as a whole. Since I didn’t know that, I found myself waiting for things to happen so that they would align with my expectations. It lead to a lot of disappointment.

We first follow Princess Asha as her younger brother is born. She doesn’t like him. He’s ugly and scrawny. She’s pretty sure the King, her father, will have him put down like other sub-par animals. Instead, everyone loves little Prince Oban. Shortly after, Princess Asha goes missing. For several years, King Degnal tears apart his kingdom looking for his daughter. We see another king, King Runmari, attempt to take over the kingdom during King Degnal’s absence. We see the kingdom of Kenneth discussing invading the Degnal Kingdom.

The “thought thief” mentioned in the title doesn’t play a very big role in this book. Several things happen throughout the book seemingly for no reason. We meet characters that aren’t especially important. While this book was easy to read, it was also fairly boring. It’s hard to give an exact example without giving away any spoilers. Mostly, I was waiting and expecting exciting things to happen that never did.

I really didn’t like that the characters all seemed overly dramatic. They were wise and pleasant one moment only to turn around and snap with rage the next. There was one scene where Princess Asha went back and forth between being an overbearing, demanding royal and an obedient, shy victim. The mood changes were inorganic and disingenuous. On the other hand, I enjoyed the way things were described. I could easily picture the beautiful hills and villages.

This book had a lot of editing mistakes. There were misspelled words and grammar issues. There were also continuity issues. For example, one of the advisors “decided never to wed and instead used his life in complete service to the King.” About fifteen pages later, he has a wife. There wasn’t time enough between those pages for the man to have gotten married, she wasn’t a newlywed or a secret wife. It was just an inconsistent fact.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Because the book was so easy to read, I feel it could be a lot better. This seems like a good start; it just needs some more work. If the characters were more realistic and the story was hashed out a bit more, I could easily see this as a three-star book. If the editing mistakes were also fixed, it would be a four-star book. As it stands, I would recommend this book to young teenage readers.

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Adventures of a Thought Thief Part 1
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[OuKoyoo]

This does not fall among my preferred genres and as such I will pass on. However, those who enjoy fantasy books can look out for the future versions of the book that will hopefully have the highlighted issues fixed. Thank you for the review.

[RoxieReads]

Although I do enjoy Young Adult, the plot sounds a bit dull. Thanks for your informative review!

[kandscreeley]

I love young adult books, but I'm not sure of this one. The editing errors I could probably overlook, but it sounds like not all the elements come together in a cohesive way. Thanks, though.

[Erin Painter Baker]

I really wish authors would work with professional editors who could tell them that the purpose of the first book in your series is NOT just to be set-up/background for the rest of your series. Obviously, this author needs to work with both a good copy-editor and a skilled developmental editor.

[Elizabeth Pass]

I really wish authors would work with professional editors who could tell them that the purpose of the first book in your series is NOT just to be set-up/background for the rest of your series. Obviously, this author needs to work with both a good copy-editor and a skilled developmental editor.

I don't mind if the first book sets up the rest of the series, as long as I know beforehand. The whole point of the synopsis is to pique your interest. If the first Harry Potter book's synopsis only talked about Harry facing Voldemort, I would have been waiting for it the whole time and I would not have enjoyed his first days at wizard school. I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I wasn't waiting for the "real story" to begin.

[Nisha Ward]

Sounds like you wanted to enjoy this book but it had way too many shortcomings. Even when it's just about establishing characters and settings, books beed to be coherent and this sounds like it's a mess. That's unfortunate.

[DD129]

I'm a fan of YA and fantasy books. Unfortunately, I won't be reading this one, despite the fact that it's a combination of my two favorite genres. It sounds like it has great potential! However, it would have to be improved before I would consider reading it. Great review!