The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
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Book Reviews of The Good Thief
Book Review: A Captivating Story!
Summary: 5 Stars
Abandoned as an infant and missing one hand, eleven year old Ren has been raised as an orphan at Saint Anthony's - a monastery appropriately named after the patron of lost things. Knowing that his disability will give him little chance at being adopted, Ren is excited yet nervous when a charming young man named Benjamin Nab arrives one day claiming to be Ren's brother. Benjamin quickly fills in the details about Ren's life and whisks the boy away from the orphanage.
However, Ren soon learns that Benjamin is not all he appears to be - the story of Ren's past is only one of many that the man is used to spinning. Craving the freedom and intrigued by the adventure, Ren is swept up in Benjamin's world of thieves, con artists and grave robbers. It may just be that the keys to Ren's past lie in this uncertain future.
Hannah Tinti's The Good Thief was a wonderful book. The characters are realistic and instantly likable and the adventure and mystery run at a great pace. Tinti does a beautiful job coloring her historical landscape. I found myself fully enthralled through the whole story and when I reached the epilogue, I didn't want the book to end. With themes of friendship, family and belonging, this tale is sure to find a welcome home in the hearts of readers everywhere!
Book Review: Enchanting
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a sucker for off-beat but believable characters (like me), you will enjoy this cross between Huck Finn and Oliver Twist. Hannah Tinti has peopled her debut novel with some wonderful folks who stop just short of caricature and made them come to life with strong back stories and layers and layers of interesting detail.
Twelve-year-old Ren is the star of the piece, a one-handed orphan who alternates between fearfulness and fearlessness in just the right situations. His pursuit of the real story behind how he lost his hand and who his parents really were is perfectly balanced with his day-to-day struggle to do the right thing despite being perpetually involved in situations that dictate he do wrong. It would have been easy for Ren's tale to drown in treacle, but Tinti keeps its head above the surface.
Ren's foils are a motley, jolly crew: the charming conman, the dwarf who lives on the roof above his perpetually-shouting sister, the over-sized murderer they accidentally dug up after he'd been buried alive, the maleficent industrialist who owns a grimy mousetrap factory. These colorful characters somehow never seem forced or over-drawn, which makes The Good Thief a Good Read.
Book Review: a delightfully different boys tale......
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Good Thief by new author Hannah Tinti is a quirky tale that is in turns sadly tragic and downright funny. Ms Tinti's writing is exceptional in that, while this book is essentially a "period piece", it actually reads as a story not limited to any age or period.
The reader will empathize with Ren, the young boy who's the main character. The author quickly sets Ren up as a good natured boy who dreams of a family, a mother in particular. The story of Ren's adventure to find that family is filled with drama and very unique, odd characters he meets along the way. While I can see the comparison to Dicken's works, another modern comparison could be to Robert McCammon,Swan Song, whose novels play on oddities while building solid character interactions.
This is one of the best books I read all year-highly recommend-five stars!
Book Review: Very rarely does a book live up to the hype...
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
You know how it is. You get a book because the blurbs on the cover tell you it is the most wonderful book since Stephen King was in diapers. This one has the audacity to have comparisons to "Oliver Twist", "Huckleberry Finn" and Robert Louis Stevenson.
To be honest, I picked it up figuring it would be wrong and I would skewer it in this review.
Well, I am pleased to say that I was wrong. This book DOES live up to that hype. It does belong in that august and lofty crowd. Somehow it pulls off being filled with literary allusions and homages to other works and being a unique work of its own.
There are multiple literary allusions that I noted, including "Treasure Island", "Sleepy Hollow", "Huckleberry Finn", "Oliver Twist", "A Clockwork Orange", "Faust", Milton and "Terminator 2".
So, in short, pick it up. This one is a unique winner.
Book Review: Great Adventure!
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
In Hannah Tinti's novel, "A Good Thief", she creates a world and a story that should become a modern classic. The story involves Ren, a one handed orphan, who has a knack for stealing things. When he is picked up from the church of St. Anthony's by a man claiming to be his brother the adventure starts from Benjamin Nab, the boys new mentor, to Dolly a killer who shows no remorse are all well thought out and developed. The writing style is superb and the book moves along at a great pace and is an easy read. I haven't read a book like this since college Lit and it is on par with some of those greats. I was pleasantly surprised by "The Good Thief" and I think anyone who picks it up will be as well. This was the first novel by Hannah Tinti I have read but based on the quality of writing here, I will be picking up her book of short stories, "Animal Crackers," in the future.