The Spirit Thief is a nice book and I liked it. It wasn't a book I found myself loving, but it was a pretty decent book. It’s a lot better than some books I have read, but in saying that, it was also lacking in a lot of things.

The length of this story wasn't at all what I wanted. I was pretty engrossed in the book, to say the least, but when it came to the ending I was disappointed. Not because of the way it was written because that was superb, but because it wasn't enough. It's that painful feeling when you find yourself to be really enjoying your story and it ends so abruptly and not in a “cliffhanger” kind of way, in a “did the author forget to finish it?” way. It’s almost like she got a bit bored of the story towards the end and finished it in the quickest way possible.

The characters were lovely, but they weren't didn’t stand out too much. I liked Eli, the smart and boyish thief because he brought a lightness to the story and he was easy to like. The other characters were a bit more drawn in and serious, which is good in a story, but too much seriousness just flattens the story.

One thing I definitely liked though was the build-up. It had a small and satisfying surprise around every corner that helped build and sculpt the characters and make them more interesting. I liked finding out new things about characters every now and again and being able to kind of build the character slowly and get to know them bit by bit.

I haven’t got much else to contribute to this review because it was such a short book which makes it hard to comment on, so I would recommend it more for boys who read on occasions and older readers, because it is one of those books that are more appealing to males and older readers.

The Spirit Thief is a completely enchanting fantasy, where the story is as cheeky as the characters.

The characters are introduced quite cleverly, with each character having their influence on the story firmly established before the plot is allowed to move on, so it only takes a few chapters for the reader to be in love with the charismatic thief Eli, the mysterious demonseed Nico, the strong-silent swordsman Josef, and the capable Spiritualist (NOT wizard mind you) Miranda.

The action starts when Eli steals a king.

Fans of Dungeons & Dragons type games will perhaps be familiar with the steroytypes coming into play (good thieves are always Charismatic... and I swear good swordsman are always right). The characters are so well developed that it is a joy to get to know them through the story.

Although the plot is awfully good fun, there does come a time when you’re hoping that, as enjoyable as it is, the story would just hurry up so you can find out what happens next. But, perhaps I just need to learn to read faster.

The central plot is strong, and complete, but we have slight deviations from it during the course of the story, which give us little insights into developments that are possibly going to be played out further into the series. So, yes, the central plot is great, and you get the happy ending, you’re also left with a niggling sense of ‘but what happens next’; it’s a very nasty plot devise, and only gets forgive because it actually fits so well with the personality of our thief Eli Monpress.

After all, you can’t expect the have all the secrets shared now, can you?

A well-written story that’s light-hearted skip through the plot makes perfect it a perfect uplifting spring read.