REVIEW: Thief of Cahraman by Lucy Tempest

First things first: I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a review!

I was pretty interested in this book, though I'll admit I didn't expect much. However, I'm a huge fan of fairytale retellings, and I've always loved Aladdin, so a gender-bent twist on the Aladdin story got my attention! And this book didn't disappoint!

CHARACTERS
Our main character in Thief of Cahraman is Adelaide, a young orphan who just wants to live in peace with her best friend Bonnie and - maybe - discover where her mother came from. She's a former thief, and though she is trying to change her ways at the start of the book, she can't resist a shiny object or six. I found Ada to be a very interesting character - smart, resourceful, and not afraid to be both feminine (she wears stunning gowns through the ENTIRE book, and doesn't shy away from cooking!) and badass. She's a strong lead, for sure!

However, I did think that sometimes Ada let her thoughts run away with her, and spent more time in her own head than would be expected of an experienced thief working with a very limited timespan, as she is in this book. She could also be a little uppity when it came to the other girls in the story - she consistently mentally belittles the princess and ladies for expecting a life of privilege and for everything to be done for them, even though she knows that this is all they've known. Despite this, though, I really liked Ada.

Now, of the minor characters, only a few are given a focus: Nariman, Fairuza, Cherine, Cora, Cyrus, and Aymon. Of these, only Fairuza and Nariman are antagonistic: Nariman being the witch who forced Ada into this situation in the first place, and Fairuza being an uppity princess who fully believes she's god's gift to the world. Cyrus, predictably, is the love interest, but I really enjoyed his character and the way the romance was handled! Though there was an instant attraction between Ada and Cyrus, I could easily see their relationship growing into romantic attraction through their interactions. Other than this, each of these minor characters is given depth and treated as realistically as possible in a fantasy. My favorite is Cora: a tough as nails farm girl who really just wants to go home and not spend all her time sitting around a palace.

All in all, Lucy Tempest handles her characters very well, making each of them distinct and rounded.

PLOT
So this book has two plots running next to each other. The main plot, the one Ada focuses on, is her mission to find a golden oil lamp in the palace and steal it to give it to Nariman. This is the reason she was taken from her home and placed in the palace, and she's determined to complete it. The second plot, which is much less important to Ada, is that of the Bride Search: the Prince of Cahraman has decided to choose his bride from 50 young women of high standing who will be brought to the palace to compete for his hand. This plot element has led to comparisons to The Selection, which I have to agree with. The two are very similar, even ending at the same point in the competition. However, I enjoyed this more than The Selection.

I was surprised to find that the Bride Search was treated more as a subplot, as Ada spends much of her time and the most amount of narration is focused on her search for the lamp. This was actually refreshing to me, as I expected the Bride Search to take up all aspects of the book as soon as Ada arrived in the palace. Of course, we do get a good idea of the sort of tasks the potential brides go through, and what kind of woman the prince wants to marry, but to Ada, that matters far less than stealing this lamp.

I liked the plot, though I'm still not completely sure why Tempest chose to include a Bride Search plot in an Aladdin retelling - a way to get Ada into the palace, sure, but why this specifically? However, I think it works. I did guess the plot twist very early on, but I quite like this, as it lent a sort of dramatic irony to the story.

Though I liked the plot of this book, I do have to acknowledge that Thief of Cahraman has a very slow opening. It took until about 40% of the way through for the book to really interest me, and then I couldn't put it down! So if you're interested in this, be aware of that, and keep pushing through!

WRITING
Lucy Tempest's writing is very easy to read, but still very evocative and descriptive. She manages to build a strong world, and I could really envision every environment and person she describes throughout the book. Though this is fantasy, Tempest does use some more modern turns of phrase, which startled me from time to time, but they didn't bother me too much.

I do have one problem with the worldbuilding, however: the abundant majority of the characters were described as "pale" or "fair"...in a story based on Aladdin, set in a desert country. I expected Cherine and Cyrus, both characters from Cahraman, to be people of color, but Cherine is described as only "tan" with "glossy dark blonde" hair and "a...face dotted with freckles". Cyrus, at least, is described as having a "golden skin tone", but even that doesn't quite bring to mind a person of color. Besides, he also has "eyes the icy-green color of northern lights." I honestly expected more POC in this book, and I'm disappointed at what I got.

RATING
I gave this book four stars, as it was very enjoyable, but dragged a little at the start and had some other elements I took issue with!

RECOMMENDATION
I'd recommend this book to fans of The Selection, similar YA fantasy books, and fairytale retellings!