Sharon Gosling - The Diamond Thief - Book Review - Published By Curios Fox


Today for review is one of the first books to be published by Curious Fox. This is a new imprint offering young readers, of all ages, creative and jaw-droppingly enjoyable books. These books promise to take readers on a journey of new adventures and experiences. Therefore, with this statement in mind, can these books deliver that promise or not?

With curiosity stated as a focus of the publishing company, The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling is my first opportunity to test the waters. Overall, the production of the book sparkles to match the title. It shines out to the potential reader through the very attractive book cover. However, is the content equivalent to a shiny gem or a bit of rusty old copper in need of a polish? 

The start of the book is particularly good - it wastes no time in setting up the murky waters of the Thames and the smoky hard times of Victorian London. Sharon has the great ability to paint a picture for you to visualise.

Remy is the main protagonist in the book; she is fantastically written and very likeable. Plucky in spirit, she is portrayed very well by making the reader want the best for her. As a result, we are treated to some interesting twists and turns, and some fantastic reading moments.

At points in the book you are hit with little steampunk elements. Whilst the great action scenes will have you lapping up the pages. The introduction of the mysterious Professor and his amazing lab certainly starts to get the ball rolling. In fact one of my favourite scenes involves the Professor and his gas pistol. The idea of the micro transmitting/tracking device that he uses not only creates a great effect, but is also really cool! 

From this point on the book goes into overdrive - making for a more gripping and imaginative read. Abernathy's plotted scheme comes to light. The underground chambers and an array of crazy metal monsters are well thought out. Although they could have perhaps had a little bit more focus at times. Nevertheless, the story still weaves its magic on the reader and will leave you wanting more.

Sadly, I have encountered just a couple of issues with the story. Firstly, I felt that in some places the author took a slightly safe route. For example one of the characters is trapped and suddenly develops a magical and mysterious ability out of nowhere. Interestingly, the character is able to help them escape in the nick of time. Finally, the relationship between Rémy and another leading character, Thaddeus Rec, was also an issue for me. I think the author managed to focus on this too much at the end of the book, and it just became too overpowering for me. I felt that it stole, what could have been, a really brilliant ending.




I really enjoyed reading this book and actually didn't want to stop reading it in order to go to work. It has shiny amounts of storyline and a sparkle of creative ideas which are full of promise. The ending perhaps needs a little bit of polish. However, this author is certainly one to watch in the future.

Published By Curios Fox, 14 February 2013 - ISBN-13: 978-1782020134

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yes,what a fantastic review and I agree that I loved the book because it was a page turner and I wish it continued or Sharon gosling carried on with the same characters in her next novel!