Review: The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids by Michael McClung

Title: The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids
Author: Michael McClung
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Mystery
Series: Amra Thetys #1
Pages: 208
ISBN: N/A
Links: IndieBound, Goodreads, Amazon
Content Warnings: Gore, mentions of torture, violence
Other Books by this Author: The Last God, Prayers in Steel (The Skin Walker War #1), Tomb: Stone and Blood

The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids was this year’s read-along for Self-Published Fantasy Month. I was so happy to participate in this read-along! I loved the book and getting to discuss its intricacies with other fantasy-lovers. Now that we’ve finished, here’s my review of The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids.

Blurb

Amra Thetys lives by two simple rules—take care of business, and never let it get personal. Thieves don’t last long in Lucernis otherwise. But when a fellow rogue and good friend is butchered on the street in a deal gone wrong, she turns her back on burglary and goes after something more precious than treasure: Revenge.

Revenge, however, might be hard to come by. A nightmare assortment of enemies, including an immortal assassin and a mad sorcerer, believe Amra is in possession of The Blade That Whispers Hate—the legendary, powerful artifact her friend was murdered for—and they’ll do anything to take it from her. Trouble is, Amra hasn’t got the least clue where the Blade might be.

She needs to find the Blade, and soon, or she’ll be joining her colleague in a cold grave instead of avenging his death. Time is running out for the small, scarred thief.

Review

OK. This book? Wow. I had to take a couple of days to think over this review because I struggled to comprehend just how much the author fit into 208 pages. Before reading The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids, prepare yourself for immaculate worldbuilding, COUNTLESS unique characters, and a murder mystery/revenge story that will leave you dizzy.

The Good

The characters are definitely what makes this story great. Although many of them only get a few pages, they are each distinct and memorable. I loved how every character McClung introduced played an important part in the complicated mystery. There would be no plot without these characters. Amra was a wonderful protagonist to follow, and I liked her pragmatic approach to everything. But surprisingly, she was not the most interesting character. I kept finding myself wanting to know more about Holgren. I love that he was cloaked in mystery throughout the story. What motivated him to help Amra? Just how powerful is he? Although I got to learn a bit about Holgren, my curiosity has not been satisfied. Hopefully, McClung will reveal more in his next books.

Another stunning aspect of this story was the worldbuilding, which the characters helped bring to life. I had so much fun learning about the complicated web of Lucernis. McClung brings each location to life with his vivid, yet brief, descriptions. The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids is one of those books that will suck you into its pages before you begin to realize it.

Oh, and I have to talk about the mystery. As much as I wanted to, I had no clue about how this story was going to end. There were so many characters and potential suspects that I gave up trying to guess the ending. I love how many twists and turns the story takes. I had to stop several times and just take in everything that was happening because it goes by so quickly!

The Bad

Overall the mystery was wild and entertaining, but there were a few times I wish it had slowed down. There were so many details thrown in, which didn’t leave a lot of time for me to take everything in. I wish more time was spend on developing important settings and people, rather than just throwing them into the mix. For most of the book, I didn’t notice this issue, but it did come up towards the end.

Rating and Recommendation

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I loved how complicated and detailed the world is in The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids, but I wish there were more pages for me to enjoy the plot. This is a perfect book for anyone who likes fantasy or a fast-paced murder-mystery.

May your days be full of magic and dragons,

Peyton

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