[Actual rating: 3.5] This book (and trilogy) has been on my to-read list for years, so I was pretty excited to read it at last. I apparently had no idea what I was in for because I didn't know what the style of fantasy this would be, that the protagonist was actually a guy not a girl, or even that it was inspired by Greece (not that I had any other culture in mind instead). So that was a bit of a failure on my part, but I guess I went into it with a clear mind? Yeah, who knows. It was a good read over-all but I wasn't exactly a fan of it, I just had such a time trying to get into it that I never fully enjoyed the read. The landscape and characters were well developed and carried the appropriate amount of depth, but I wasn't engaged. I also spent the entire book thinking Gen would be outed as a girl, so I wonder where that came from? The 'big reveal' at the end didn't really phase me at all, I didn't really care. I will definitely read the next installment (and have heard many people actually prefer the sequel over The Thief, so I hope with cautious optimism that it'll be the same for me)

The first third of "The Thief" was a little hard to get through. Gen, the main character, kept mouthing off, seemingly without any reason, and I could not relate to him at first. Then, however, the story picks up, Gen shows some of his talents and the stakes are raised... and I was not able to put the book down at all. In the end I was so hooked I finished it in one setting. I'll definitely read the sequel.