Emily Gee - Thief With no Shadow

Aided by the magic that courses through her veins, Melke is able to walk unseen by mortal eyes. When a necklace she has stolen holds the key to both saving her brother’s life and breaking a terrible curse, she must steal it back from a den of fire-breathing salamanders. Things are about to get very tough for Melke, especially when she comes to realize she may have to trust the very people who were out to kill her.
Thief With No Shadow is a rich, romantic fantasy tale set in a world where the ordinary and extraordinary coexist, where nightmarish creatures live alongside men, and magic runs in the blood of mortals.

Comment: One more paperback I've collected in the early 2010s on the recommendation of a friend, with whom I shared some reads. The books we had in common made me think this would be something I'd like and now that fifteen years passed, although my taste has changed, this one was still more or less positive.

In this fantasy we meet Melke, a woman who can be become a wraith, meaning becoming invisible, and she uses this ability to steal a necklace and give it to a den of salamanders (mythical beings who are linked to the element of fire) so she can rescue her brother, trapped there. However, by doing this, she put siblings Bastian and Liana in danger, for their family is cursed and they needed the necklace to undo it. After being caught, Melke and her brother Hantje are helped by Bastian and Liana, and Melke impulsively promises she will steal the necklace back from the salamanders, but that will put her in jeopardy again...will she fulfill her promise when Bastian keeps treating her so badly, though?

What a bonkers story, even for a fantasy one! Still, there was a time I loved these types of books and I was even further seduced by the idea there would be some romance too. There was, true, but when comparing to the type of romances I prefer nowadays, this one was certainly very weak.

The plot is very simple and focused on the tasks the characters have to accomplish, both to save someone and to undo the curse. If I were to pick up every detail one by one, there would be plenty to complain about, but it's one of those situations where, somehow, the whole makes up for the several individual elements. For instance, I disliked Bastian's behavior for most of the novel, but as a whole I can understand some of his feelings and I feel he was a valid part of the plot anyway.

The best element, for me, is the psychology I find in the characters, namely in Melke's. She and her brother had a terrible past once their father was found out as being a wraith, who are persecuted and executed in their country. This is why they left when they could, they want a quiet life somewhere else, but circumstances placed them in this situation now. I really can't remember what really led to the specific situation where they got mixed with the salamanders but that doesn't seem to be important, only that they are marginalized and this led to them having very low self esteem and consider themselves to be bad people.

I usually like novels where some character is shy or doesn't see the qualities they have and part of the goal is to prove them otherwise somehow. Of course Melke "proves" how reliable and brave she is, unlike what she thought of herself, but the price to pay could be very high. I liked the overall evolution of her mental state and how she helped the others even when Bastian was being rude, but the self depreciation did go on for far too long without enough positive aspects to balance it. It's true I can say some of those good aspects were seen through others' POV, which was a good "show" instead of "tell", but the author could have gone further with this.

The romance is very, very disappointing because we don't have interactions between Melke and Bastian in which we can see the development of their feelings. In fact, until the very end, Bastian doesn't like Melke and this means their mutual change of heart at the end seems ridiculous and superficial. Surely this element could have been done better too... we also have a secondary romance between the other two, Liana and Hantje, but this was also rushed. One can say traditional romance isn't that easy to find in fantasy novels, but if the element is there, why not!

The myths and fantasy details are quite imaginative, the author basically thought about the four elements, air, earth, fire and water to create monsters who represent each element and how bad they can be to humans, while still wanting to...have sex with them. Really bonkers in regards to this, I'll have to say. I mean, I didn't find this idea to be as bad as other readers considered because it's a slightly silly fantasy in my eyes and the world building wasn't one I saw as encompassing, but yes, some scenes are definitely ludicrous.

Some magical elements, such as the curse by a water monster on Bastian's family decreeing his land would loose water as time went by and that he and his sister might be killed in an accident related to water - family members in the past drowned - made this an interesting plot to follow... I was expectant to see the curse broken, of course, which also symbolized the renewal of life, but the road there wasn't as great as that, and the romance very poor, indeed. Nevertheless, this was a story I felt compelled to read and for the most part, was fluid and easy.

Grade: 7/10