Book Review: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief is the Newbery Honor winning first book in a series with four out and a fifth planned.
Cover Blurb:

      The most powerful advisor to the King of Sounis is the magus. He's not a wizard, he's a scholar, an aging solider, not a thief. When he needs something stolen, he pulls a young thief from the King's prison to do the job for him.

      Gen is a thief and proud of it. When his bragging lands him behind bars he has one chance to win his freedom-- journey to a neighboring kingdom with the magus, find a legendary stone called Hamiathes's Gift and steal it.

The magus has plans for his King and his country. Gen has plans of his own.

              This book has definitely just hit my Top Ten Favorites, Ever! Completely MIND BLOWING! Yes, in CAPS.
              Many, many books have well-rounded characters, but there is usually just the tiniest detail that reminds you the characters are just words on a page. I did not get the smallest suggestion of that from this book. To be blunt, they acted like real people in every sense of dialogue and action. Gen, the main character, had so many layers, discovering them kept me excited and on my toes. And the supporting characters were each unique and and had important roles to play.
Characters: 5 Stars
               From the start of the book, the plot was engaging, and the interest was non-stop. Every scene furthered the story instead of filling paper. But the ending, oh the ending! The ending grabbed me by the collar, tied me in a knot, punched me to the floor, then whipped that floor right out from under me. I totally did NOT see that coming! I immediately re-read the book to see if things added up. Turner is a master of foreshadowing. :)
Plot: 5 Stars (a big 5 Stars)
                Megan Turner was able to unfold an entire world and its characters without any of the dreaded info dumping. Everything flowed naturally as if I were there, watching it for myself. And though I could sense a definite style, it didn't interfere with the plot and character developments.
Style: 5 Stars

Rating: 5 Stars
Source: Library
Genre: Fantasy/Adventurish?
YA Fiction

Author Site:
Megan Whalen Turner

Subnote: See last week's Saturday Snatch for an excerpt. :)