Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden
Ace
Publication Date: May 12th, 2020
Paperback. 368 pages
About Stealing Thunder:
"In a different life, under a different name, Razia Khan was raised to be the Crown Prince of Nizam, the most powerful kingdom in Daryastan. Born with the soul of a woman, she ran away at a young age to escape her father’s hatred and live life true to herself.
Amongst the hijras of Bikampur, Razia finds sisterhood and discovers a new purpose in life. By day she’s one of her dera’s finest dancers, and by night its most profitable thief. But when her latest target leads her to cross paths with Arjun Agnivansha, Prince of Bikampur, it is she who has something stolen.
An immediate connection with the prince changes Razia’s life forever, and she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous political war. The stakes are greater than any heist she’s ever performed. When the battle brings her face to face with her father, Razia has the chance to reclaim everything she lost…and save her prince."
Amongst the hijras of Bikampur, Razia finds sisterhood and discovers a new purpose in life. By day she’s one of her dera’s finest dancers, and by night its most profitable thief. But when her latest target leads her to cross paths with Arjun Agnivansha, Prince of Bikampur, it is she who has something stolen.
An immediate connection with the prince changes Razia’s life forever, and she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous political war. The stakes are greater than any heist she’s ever performed. When the battle brings her face to face with her father, Razia has the chance to reclaim everything she lost…and save her prince."
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book! It has some incredibly strong world-building and characters that really stood out as highlights, but I still struggled with it somewhat.
What I liked: It was awesome to read a fantasy with a trans main character! There aren't all that many of those in more mainstream publishing, so it's awesome to have some new perspectives flowing into fantasy. Razia is a strong and compelling main character that combines strength, wit, and a compelling personality that made me enjoy following her. The main plot is interesting and I definitely found myself feeling hooked. Also, there are dragons!
What I didn't like: One of the downsides to reading this as an ebook was that there are a lot of new in-world words created for this book and there is also a glossary, but it's nearly impossible to flip back and forth while reading an ebook, so I felt a little lost and frustrated a lot of the time. I also found the writing to be a bit cluttered at times, if that makes any sense. It didn't flow quite as well as it should have and I felt that there were certain things repeated a few too many times.
Note: I don't really have any specific commentary to offer on the trans and desi representation in this book, since I don't really feel qualified to assess it from my perspective. I've heard some mixed things, so I would encourage you to seek out some other reviews from people who can offer more if you are interested in that component.
Overall, I've given Stealing Thunder 3.5 stars! Despite some issues with the plot and writing, I still had a fun time reading this.
*I received an ARC of Stealing Thunder courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment of the novel.*
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