Joythief
- 2023 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Fantasy (Adult Fiction)
A spider-thief, a slave, and a woman with hidden darkness inside team up to save the world in Brenda J. Pierson’s Arabian-inspired fantasy novel Joythief.
Mariq is a pampered princess in Kuriza by day and a gifted spider-thief for the Star-Blades by night. The Star-Blades give her two options: she can either assassinate her future husband, the Sheik of Hatife, or take a poison that costs her the gifts she worked hard to attain. And with Turien, a slave for the Star-Blades, and Ehra, her attendant in the Hatife palace, Mariq faces the ultimate mission of saving the world from being torn apart by an imbalance of magic. They also search for an answer to the most fundamental question of all: are they worthy of being remembered?
A fast-moving, twisting, and unpredictable fantasy novel, Joythief includes a neverending rollercoaster of events that create new problems for the trio to combat. Its worldbuilding is astounding: each page describes the colors, scents, traditions, and lifestyles of the three kingdoms in the book—Kuriza, Hatife, and Temhet-Sakh. And Mariq, Turien, and Ehra each fight against symbolic and physical captors that keep them prisoners. For Mariq, her captors are her family and the bleeding insecurities she faces from losing her gifts; Turien is marked and seen as property, and works to find his voice and realize his worth. His story is triumphant and moving, and his pursuit of freedom is pure and glorious to behold. And Ehra’s struggle may be the most challenging and heart-wrenching of all: she struggles between accepting and shunning her gifts.
Perfect and satisfying in its final moments, Joythief is a stunning magical story about people who find their true places in the world, freeing themselves from emotional chains.
Reviewed by
Courtney Justice
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
