[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Clarion Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
A girl has been kidnapped and the police have come to the Liberty of Gammerbund, and Marzana’s parents, for help. Marzanna’s parents have had “adventurous” lives, and they have contacts in the Liberty who might not respond to police questions, but would answer theirs. So her parents start working their contacts, investigating the crime.
Marzana and her best friend Nialla have been looking for an adventure of their own, so they decide to follow their own leads to try to find the missing girl. Teaming up with a ghost named Meddy, a girl from school named Emilia, and two boys, Ciro and JJ, they form the Thief Knot. And together they start looking for the kidnappers.
Review
I know that’s a pretty short summary, and it doesn’t say a whole lot, but this is a hard book to explain. It’s really best read for itself. This was terrific! I didn’t realize it was part of a larger story until I started digging into the book. It’s not a series, necessarily, but maybe more of a spinoff of the Greenglass books. And I loved it. Some of the history of the characters and the magic of the world was missing for me because I haven’t read any of the other stories. But I was able to follow this without those details with no issue (other than wondering about the stories I have missed).
I love ensemble stories like this. The Thief Knot crew is terrific – with interesting connections and skills they bring to the adventure. The mystery was top notch. Lots of great twists – one big one I only half predicted and another big one I didn’t see coming at all. It was so fun to read! I don’t know that I’ll go back to read the other books in this world – I can only read so many things – but I will absolutely read more books with these characters if this becomes a series of its own. I loved these kids!
This would be a fascinating read aloud for a classroom or a family. Terrific for mystery fans. There’s a slight “heist novel” feel to this that I loved, too. This might also appeal to fans of books like The Great Greene Heist (♥♥♥♥), and other heist stories. This book is targeted to older middle grade readers (ages 10-12+).