Book Review: The NoWhere Thief

Writing Update: I haven’t posted for a while because I have been focussed on finishing my edit of book 3, The Great Forest. Something wasn’t working, but following a chat recently with a writer friend, I knew what I had to do to fix it. The book has finally gone to my editor, and I am very happy with how the story turned out! Now I have to address the long list of things I said I’d do once my edit was done (and it’s a very long list!!)…

First up is a review of recently published The Nowhere Thief by Alice M. Ross:

From the publisher:|

“She closed her eyes and felt the familiar hum in the air as the opening materialised. Then she stepped through into Nowhere.”

Living in a sleepy seaside town outside of Lunden, twelve-year-old Elsbeth has an extraordinary power: she can travel to parallel worlds… and bring objects back.

With her mother’s failing antique shop growing dustier by the day, the trinkets and treasures that Elsbeth steals from these worlds seem like they might be the answer to all of their worries. But as bizarre weather events begin to swirl each time she travels, she has to ask herself: does her gift come with a price?

Step inside the portal to Nowhere and discover a kaleidoscopic world of possibility in this shimmering middle-grade debut from Alice M. Ross.

Fans of Jessica Townsend and L.D. Lapinski will love this mind-bending, multiverse adventure – perfect for 9+ readers!

My review:

I really enjoyed this exciting, fun story of Elsbeth’s adventures in (sort-of) parallel worlds. Elsbeth discovers she can pop into Nowhere, an updated Wood-Between-the-Worlds, and from there go into other, similar but different Somewheres. Things that appear to be junk in the other Somewheres turn out to be much more valuable in her world, so she takes them back with her, hoping to repair the fortunes of her mother’s antiques shop. In other words, to get enough money to pay the overdue rent before the landlord evicts them. However, as Elsbeth discovers, actions have consequences, and it isn’t long before she has to deal with some very unpleasant ones.

The depiction of the ‘Nowhere’ is nicely executed with its kaleidoscope centre, and Elsbeth’s means to enter and exit is great. I’m not a fan of multi-verses generally but this one with the HostTech and HostNat worlds is fun. The plot is fast-paced and exciting with enough twists to satisfy, as well as leaving lots of possibilities for further adventures. For those interested, HostTech is short for Hostile Technology and HostNat for Hostile Nature. I think further exploration of both those worlds is definitely called for!

Elsbeth is an endearing character and I really liked Idris, who, despite terrible treatment by his grandmother, keeps going, undeterred, and remains cheerful and sweet-tempered. One of my favourite parts of the story is the relationship between Idris and his grandmother, which gives depth to the characters. While Racine’s story line is resolved perhaps a little conveniently, I enjoyed how it all played out.

One of my favourite things about The Nowhere Thief is that actions have consequences (like in real life). Recently I have read a spate of middle grade book where the protagonist lies to their parents/responsible adult so they can do what they want, and there are no consequences (other than a slap on the wrist and ‘tell me next time, but you saved the world so it’s all right’). It was so refreshing to read a book where Elsbeth, who steals items from other worlds and lies to her mother about it, has to face some terrible consequences. It made for a more satisfying read too.

The Nowhere Thief is a great story with wonderful characters, and an interesting world. It was published by Nosy Crow on 2nd March, and if you like fnatasy, you should definitely check out this book.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the eARC of The NoWhere Thief.