Hello friends, I hope the dreaded Monday is treating you well! I’m excited to be taking part in the Ultimate Blog Tour hosted by The Write Reads for The Thief of Farrowfell by Ravena Guron.

Special thanks to Faber and Faber Ltd. for providing a digital copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review! Be sure to check out the other bloggers on tour! ⇣

TL;DR: The Thief of Farrowfell is a solid first book in this new middle-grade fantasy series. With a unique magic system and compelling characters who will easily have you rooting for them, this is an action-packed adventure-filled novel that I think many young readers will find joy reading! While it does get somewhat dark and sinister at times, Jude is a great main character who keeps it real but also, continues to feel hope throughout the read that doesn’t let the story get bogged down. Despite the triumphs, I wouldn’t say this book has a happy ending exactly; however, it was a very hopeful one and I look forward to continuing the series and seeing where Jude’s story goes next.

The world-building of Farrowfell was interesting and I liked the magic system. I can’t recall reading a story where the magic system is based solely on edible magic and while Guron gives us a good taste (no pun intended!) of what magic can do in this world, especially with the invisibility and ghost spells, I found myself eagerly wanting to see more variety because it sounded very cool. Another interesting element to the magic was the difference in tame magic and raw magic, and how the author made the latter come alive. It made me even more curious about the origins of Farrowfell’s magic and I hope that Guron will explore it in more depth in the coming books.

The writing was descriptive and enjoyable to read, and I think it would be easy for the intended audience to sink into the story as it is quite action-packed and full of mischief and adventure! Foremost, this is about family and what it means to be one, but it is also about friendship, touching upon themes of grief, loss, and belonging. I don’t think I expected the story to be quite this dark but as an adult reader, I appreciated it a lot. You could say that some of this is to be expected due to the fact that Jude is a thief from a family of the most renowned thieves in Farrowfell, but her family is one of the most horrid that I’ve read in some time! Jude craves her family’s acceptance and wants so badly to feel like a true Ripon, which made it very hard at times to read how poorly they treated her, and it was heartbreaking to see how sad and disappointed Jude would become after every scene involving her family. She deserved so much better than them!

I loved Jude’s determination! She’s stubborn as anything, resourceful, and quick-witted, and I think young readers will be able to easily empathise with her. Although at first, their relationship was quite contentious—and at least from Jude’s side full of bitterness and jealousy—I liked how Guron wrote the relationship between Jude and Moorley. Sisterhood is complex and can be one of the messiest relationships in life, but there’s also a unique bond that can form between sisters that I’m glad came through in this book. I loved that there was at least one family member in her life that Jude was able to count on, even if she initially didn’t think so. Moorley was a great older sister and I can’t wait to see how their relationship evolves throughout the series!

As I think can be expected from a middle grade novel, this was quite light in terms of character development. There are several characters of note that we meet on Jude’s adventures, and while they seemed interesting, a glimpse is pretty much all that we get of them. It would have been great to see some of these characters developed more, especially the ones who played more significant roles including Jude’s new found friends, Eri and Fin. They seemed like good kids and I liked the role they played in helping Jude realise that it’s not only blood family that can make you feel seen, and their acceptance isn’t the only thing that matters. I’m sure that we will see much more of them as the series continues and I can’t wait for that!

This doesn’t have the typical happy ending that Jude and Moorley deserve, nor the easy resolution that tends to happen in middle-grade novels, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a hopeful ending (or beginning whichever way you see it) for them. I know there are lots more great adventures waiting ahead for Jude and Moorley, and it also probably isn’t the last time we see the Ripon family (unfortunately, lol). Overall, I had a great time reading this middle-grade fantasy and it’s one that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to young readers looking for a magical and adventurous story with a strong main character!

Have you read The Thief of Farrowfell or is it on your TBR?

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