Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite

Jessica Piro’s Thieving Shadows is an exciting steampunk mystery thriller. Rookfall is a city sharply divided between the wealthy elites and the impoverished lessers. The lessers are ordinary people living in the Barrows. Some lessers are thieves, stealing from the elites. The punishment for thieves is death by hanging. Genevieve is a Shadow, a master thief who steals valuables and sells them on the black market. One day, Genevieve wakes up in the Barrows in a strange home belonging to a lesser, Matthew Tilcott. Genevieve learns that Matthew found her unconscious on a street. She also realizes that she has very little memory of the past three years. From Matthew, she learns of a massive explosion in Ivoryglen, an area where the elites live. Through fragmentary flashbacks and a friend from the past, Genevieve realizes she was at the explosion, and recalls a mysterious object, the Star, that has powerful, corrupting properties. The suspense grows, twisting and turning in complex and compelling ways.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Thieving Shadows for its remarkable character, Genevieve, and the richly imagined world of Rookfall. I particularly enjoyed Genevieve’s character development, her determination and resourcefulness, and her inner transformative journey. I liked how Genevieve’s life as a master thief emerges, a Shadow who terrifies the elites through her daring heists of their valuables. The story and the characters sprang to life through the vivid and immersive details of Rookfall, the contrasts between the poor Barrows section and the wealthy sections of the elites. I loved the character development of Matthew Tilcott, the lesser, who rescues and shelters Genevieve. The drama of how both Genevieve and Matthew influence each other in their inner journeys was expressed vividly through well-crafted dialogues, and the perilous challenges and life-threatening risks they take as their lives become intertwined. The story was greatly enriched by key secondary characters, both lessers and elites, and I liked the depth of detail for them. The pace, tension, and action pick up steadily. I was riveted as the story reached the climax, drawn into the difficult and dangerous confrontations Genevieve faces, and what decisions she would make. I highly recommend Jessica Piro’s Thieving Shadows to readers who enjoy character-driven, multifaceted mysteries that involve sci-fi and moral dilemmas.