*I was given a copy of Thieves in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Nobrow and Lucie Bryon*
Synopsis:
Ella can’t seem to remember a single thing from the party from the night before at a mysterious stranger’s mansion, and she sure as heck doesn’t know why she’s woken up in her bed surrounded by a magpie’s nest of objects that aren’t her own. And she can’t stop thinking about her huge crush on Madeleine, who she definitely can’t tell about her sudden penchant for kleptomania…but does Maddy have secrets of her own? Can they piece together that night between them and fix the mess of their chaotic personal lives in time to form a normal teenage relationship? That would be nice.
Review:
I’m not sure what I expected from Thieves but let’s just say what I got was quite a surprise. The synopsis does fit the story but it makes out that Ella wasn’t aware that she was stealing when in the graphic novel it seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing. Content-wise the synopsis makes Thieves sound far more exciting than it is, which seems quite savage to say but to me, it reads like an espionage-style story. Which Thieves definitely was not.
I loved the premise of this storyline, especially with it being a sapphic couple and this type of media never gets another attention. The idea of a teenage couple righting the wrongs of their previous kleptomaniac tendencies is both interesting and hilarious. I never thought I’d ever read a book with this premise, but here we are.
Unfortunately for me, the pacing was very off. It went from Ella and Madeleine having spoken once at a party to them kissing the next morning after exchanging about two words. I get that teenage relationships can be fast-paced and fleeting but it seemed too sudden for me. The story would have worked the same if they knew each other before the party. Madeleine is clearly a very private person so her secrets wouldn’t have been revealed either way. I’m definitely nitpicking there, but it confused me when they claimed to be girlfriends after speaking once.
The actual storyline was really fun and the complexity of the characters that was conveyed in a short format story was quite impressive. Although they have all had their struggles Thieves is genuinely an uplifting story.
Now it seems like I didn’t enjoy Thieves very much, which isn’t entirely true. I adore the art style and monochromatic colouring. I’ve never seen a graphic novel utilise monochrome in such an amazing way. Honestly, I am completely blown away.
The character designs were super cute and I really loved the clothing. Visually Thieves is very beautiful and Lucie Bryon is an incredible artist.
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