Thief's Covenant

Thief's Covenant (Widdershins, 1) by Ari Marmell, February 21, 2012. 273 pages. Published by PYR. Source: Publisher (requested).

Once she was Adrienne Satti. An orphan of Davillon, she had somehow escaped destitution and climbed to the ranks of the city's aristocracy in a rags-to-riches story straight from an ancient fairy tale. Until one horrid night, when a conspiracy of forces—human and other—stole it all away in a flurry of blood and murder. Today she is Widdershins, a thief making her way through Davillon's underbelly with a sharp blade, a sharper wit, and the mystical aid of Olgun, a foreign god with no other worshippers but Widdershins herself. It's not a great life, certainly nothing compared to the one she once had, but it's hers.
But now, in the midst of Davillon's political turmoil, an array of hands are once again rising up against her, prepared to tear down all that she's built. The City Guard wants her in prison. Members of her own Guild want her dead. And something horrid, something dark, something ancient is reaching out for her, a past that refuses to let her go. Widdershins and Olgun are going to find answers, and justice, for what happened to her—but only if those who almost destroyed her in those years gone by don't finish the job first.

First Sentence:

The girl watched, helpless, as the world turned red beneath her.

I am so glad that my sister brought Thief's Covenant to my attention because I absolutely loved it.

One of the things that makes Thief's Covenant stand out from most books is the way the story plays out (which you can see in my "favorite" part of the book below).

While I really enjoyed the way the present and past of the characters was revealed in this book. I thought that Mr. Marmell did a really great job of weaving in a sense of mystery and suspense, while still maintaining a character that could be both witty and cocky which kept the book from becoming mired in darkness that kept you not only at the edge of your seat, but occasionally laughing.

The plot was definitely one of the more interesting and original ones that I have read recently. I liked the fact that (almost) everything from Widdershins' past tied in or played a role in what was happening in the future, especially since it was done in a way that while revealing pieces of the story sill managed to keep a fair amount concealed so that you pretty much learned at the same rate that the characters did.
What must interested me in the story line would have to be the whole chess-like conflict that builds from the very first page as you are introduced to Adrienne when she is at her lowest point (i.e. being blamed for murdering a bunch of people). It was definitely an interesting way to kick off the book.

While I was a bit confused at first with the whole thing with all the various gods and their role in Thief's Covenant, I liked the way it was threaded into the book and how the importance of it on the populace and the plot all tied in together. I generally do not like books that have like a god for just about everything, I thought that it was handled okay (although still not my favorite thing to read about).

Even though I really liked Thief's Covenant, I did have a pretty good idea on who had set out to eliminate Widdershins from the picture. With that in mind, I still thought the various mysterious elements were all done quite nicely and I loved it. I'll just mention this last thing, the villain was actually pretty neferious.

Widdershins was definitely a little crazy, but crazy in an interesting what will she do next kind of way. One of the things I liked best about her and her crazy/stubborn streak would have to be that it got her into all sorts of trouble, which meant that there was rarely any dull scenes. I know mean of me to say that I liked that her personality got her into trouble, but I did enjoy.
Renard was definitely one great side-character, and I definitely hope that he'll be making a bigger appearance in the sequel. What I really liked about Renard would have to be how he would go out of his way to try and help Widdershins out of the trouble that she was facing-although it was usually trouble that she brought down upon herself. There's actually one more thing I would like to say about him, but I totally cannot because it is a huge spoiler.

Easily my favorite thing about Thief's Covenant would have to be the way that Mr. Marmell told the story. I loved how the story switched between the present and the past because it definitely made it that much more interesting because you would learn certain things about Widdershins past as the story went along. I also loved how each of the glimpses into the past tied into what was happening in the present.

With all books, I generally have one to two things that just do not work for me in a book, and Thief's Covenant is no exception. The one thing that I did not like about this book would have to be that the first couple of chapters were a little confusing because I was a little unsure if Adrienne and Widdershins were one in the same or two different characters, but it does because clearer after the third chapter.

Content (will contain spoilers; highlight to see):
So there is so foul language in Thief's Covenant, but nothing too terribly bad. I cannot remember specifics, but no use of the f word.

While there is pretty much no sexual content throughout the book, there is one scene in which Widdershins while pilfering a lord's room, finds him sleeping with...umm, a women he's not married to...a prostitute. The only thing that happens in the lady wakes up and sees Widdershins, and its mentioned that she is disrobed.

There is quite a bit of violence in this book! Shattering of bones, beheading, bleeding out, people being gored to death. I think y'all get the general idea.

Final Verdict: Thief's Covenant will keep you on the edge of your seat. Definitely looking forward to book two this summer.

Thief's Covenant earns 4.5 out of 5 pineapples.