ARC Review: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier, August 1, 2011. 381 pages. Published by Amulet Books. Source: Author for review.

"Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves. As you can well imagine, blind children have incredible senses of smell, and they can tell what lies behind a locked door- be it fine cloth, gold, or peanut brittle- at fifty paces. Moreover, their fingers are so small and nimble that they can slip right through keyholes, and their ears so keen that they can hear the faint clicks and clacks of every moving part inside even the most complicated lock. Of course, the age of great thievery has long since passed;today there are few child-thieves left, blind or otherwise. At one time, however, the world was simply thick with them. This is the story of the greatest thief who ever lived. His name, as you've probably guessed, is Peter Nimble."

First Sentence:

Now, for those of you who know anything about blind children, you are aware that they make the very best thieves. 

I have read a LOT of great books this year, even so I am finding myself bumping various favorites further down the list to make room so that Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes can take the top spot for best of the year (out of books I've read for the first time this year). Final Verdict: Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is shear brilliance!

Since I now have your undivided attention I will try to explain why I ♥ Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes so much.

One of the reasons I loved this book so much was that it pulled me in from the very first page and left me wanting to do nothing but sit there until I had devoured every last word of it, which is good because nothing has been able to hold my attention since I finished re-reading HP.

  What drew me to wanting to read Peter Nimble was that a) it was a mid-grade (which I adore) and b) that I was intrigued by the fact the Peter was a blind thief.

One thing that has been known to make or break a book for me is the way that the plot is laid out; if it doesn't seem to have any method to the madness I'll likely not enjoy it. That being said, I loved how the various points of the story all came together at the end and that it was such a fast paced read. I also thought that the fantastic eyes which Peter received were pretty awesome, especially with how important they were to the actual story.

I really liked the main character, Peter Nimble, and thought that Mr. Auxier did an excellent job creating a protagonist that (thief or not) was just such a fascinating character. I'm finding that words are failing me as I try to sum up why I liked Peter so much (because frankly there are more reasons than I can name for why I liked him, but I'd end up telling you about the entire book if I did). However, part of the reason I liked him as a character was because he always persevered through all the trials that he faced in his life and that he actually was not a bad kid, even if he was a thief.

What I loved the most about Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes was the writing of Jonathan Auxier, which was absolutely brilliant, and how he was able to completely draw me into Peter Nimble's story and leave me thinking about the book even when I wasn't currently reading it. As well as long after I finished reading it.

  Α generally odd occurrence for me concerning books that I have read, but I have nothing that comes to mind for what I didn't like about Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. It was just an all-around enjoyable read for me.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.