I have been lucky enough to be able to read the book and fall in love with its story and characters. This post is a spotlight on the upcoming book and its wonderful author!
The Thief will be available as an e-book for Kindle, Nook, and other platforms on June 30, 2013.
Genre
What was your favorite part of The Thief?
Probably the scene in the cafeteria where Jul is trying to avoid Rhys and inadvertently assembles all three narrators at one lunch table. There’s just so much going on in that one little section. All three of them have completely different things going on, and as the reader you’re aware of what Jul and Mac are probably thinking even though the scene is from Camille’s perspective. I’m just very pleased with the way that particular bit turned out.
Who is your favorite character and why?
I’m a little split here. Mac is made of magic writer fuel. Many times when I’ve been stuck, I’ve been able to switch to a Mac chapter and still forge forward. No matter how dire things get, Mac is always there to put things in perspective and make me laugh. If writers were witches, Mac would be my familiar.
Now if we’re talking about who I’d love the most if I were reading this series…that would have to be Kei. I really love Kei. He has this wonderful capacity for pissing off every other character in some way or other.
In three words describe your book.
Mirrored, woven, broken.
Links
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Blog - Twitter - Book Site
Aine Crabtree is the creator / earth mother goddess of an alternate universe, where the good are sacrificed upon the Altar of Cliffhangers and the wicked flourish to prolong the dramatic tension. She lives in Huntsville, AL with Spike, the world’s cutest kitten, plotting her escape to somewhere less humid. She is still waiting to be recruited by the X-Men.
YA urban fantasy
Approx. page length
400
Approx. page length
400
Blurb
Once upon a time, two girls from opposite corners of the globe collide in a deceptively sleepy town in the deep south. Their unlikely friendship becomes the catalyst that unravels Havenwood's most closely guarded secrets, and will change their lives forever.
Jul Graham doesn't know what to expect when she's sent to live with her grandmother after her father's abrupt disappearance, but it certainly isn't a private school full of foreign students and a magic mirror in her backyard. Her new best friend is a blonde girl who speaks Japanese, and all of the adults - including her grandmother - treat Jul like she's some sort of time bomb. On top of that, she's a subject of interest to her new classmates, who don't seem entirely normal themselves. What is Havenwood hiding?
Reviews
In Aine Crabtree's "The Thief", three students from three different worlds come together in an elaborate private school in the rural Southern United States. Jul is a beautiful, timid girl from New York, Camille is a mysterious orphan from Tokyo, raised by an even more mysterious guardian, and Mac is a mischievously outgoing but charmingly naive boy living in the town he grew up in. When mysterious circumstances begin occurring, these students' worlds begin to collide. What begins as an attempt to solve the disappearances of some trivial items soon leads to the teens' unraveling of secrets within the school, and its history that connect them to each other and to centuries-old conflicts spanning across the world - and perhaps even beyond. Crabtree's multiple-narrator perspective allows the reader to sympathize with all of her characters, and the exciting nature will keep you turning the pages voraciously.
--Sam Neely
The debut novel in Aine Crabtree’s Archetype series is an exciting beginning to what will surely be an epic adventure! The more you read, the more intrigued you will become, and you will thoroughly enjoy this story as it unfolds layers of legend that continue to cause stirrings in the modern world. Despite some of their more supernatural tendencies, these characters feel real and you will cheer for them, laugh with them, and cry for them as the world they thought they knew begins to reveal itself and they are pushed ever closer to the truth.
--Meg Lawson
My Review
Throughout the past ten years or so I have read countless YA series. Ones that follow only one main character to series like Crabtree’s that follow multiple. I have to say, normally I shy away from more than one narrator in a story but “The Thief” threw me for a loop. Each of her characters had a special something that hooked me. I was intrigued from the get-go by Jul’s quiet nature, Camille’s rebellious tendencies, and, of course, Mac’s good heart and humor. Not to mention my crush over Rhys and sweet love for quiet Destin kept me happily reading. The story could have been worthless and I’d still read it—I’d follow Crabtree’s characters anywhere. They are just that relatable and likeable. Luckily, however, the story was a grand adventure that I had a blast reading. I can’t wait until the second book in the series comes out! And the third, and the fourth, and so on!
A Mini Interview with Aine Crabtree
What was the biggest inspiration for writing The Thief?
Once upon a time, two girls from opposite corners of the globe collide in a deceptively sleepy town in the deep south. Their unlikely friendship becomes the catalyst that unravels Havenwood's most closely guarded secrets, and will change their lives forever.
Jul Graham doesn't know what to expect when she's sent to live with her grandmother after her father's abrupt disappearance, but it certainly isn't a private school full of foreign students and a magic mirror in her backyard. Her new best friend is a blonde girl who speaks Japanese, and all of the adults - including her grandmother - treat Jul like she's some sort of time bomb. On top of that, she's a subject of interest to her new classmates, who don't seem entirely normal themselves. What is Havenwood hiding?
Reviews
In Aine Crabtree's "The Thief", three students from three different worlds come together in an elaborate private school in the rural Southern United States. Jul is a beautiful, timid girl from New York, Camille is a mysterious orphan from Tokyo, raised by an even more mysterious guardian, and Mac is a mischievously outgoing but charmingly naive boy living in the town he grew up in. When mysterious circumstances begin occurring, these students' worlds begin to collide. What begins as an attempt to solve the disappearances of some trivial items soon leads to the teens' unraveling of secrets within the school, and its history that connect them to each other and to centuries-old conflicts spanning across the world - and perhaps even beyond. Crabtree's multiple-narrator perspective allows the reader to sympathize with all of her characters, and the exciting nature will keep you turning the pages voraciously.
--Sam Neely
The debut novel in Aine Crabtree’s Archetype series is an exciting beginning to what will surely be an epic adventure! The more you read, the more intrigued you will become, and you will thoroughly enjoy this story as it unfolds layers of legend that continue to cause stirrings in the modern world. Despite some of their more supernatural tendencies, these characters feel real and you will cheer for them, laugh with them, and cry for them as the world they thought they knew begins to reveal itself and they are pushed ever closer to the truth.
--Meg Lawson
My Review
Throughout the past ten years or so I have read countless YA series. Ones that follow only one main character to series like Crabtree’s that follow multiple. I have to say, normally I shy away from more than one narrator in a story but “The Thief” threw me for a loop. Each of her characters had a special something that hooked me. I was intrigued from the get-go by Jul’s quiet nature, Camille’s rebellious tendencies, and, of course, Mac’s good heart and humor. Not to mention my crush over Rhys and sweet love for quiet Destin kept me happily reading. The story could have been worthless and I’d still read it—I’d follow Crabtree’s characters anywhere. They are just that relatable and likeable. Luckily, however, the story was a grand adventure that I had a blast reading. I can’t wait until the second book in the series comes out! And the third, and the fourth, and so on!
A Mini Interview with Aine Crabtree
What was the biggest inspiration for writing The Thief?
This didn’t consciously hit me for a long time, but the more I put the series together the more I realize the X-Men have been a major source of inspiration. I was a huge fan of the cartoon that ran in the 90s, and I’ve noticed a lot of similar themes cropping up. It was probably the first thing I came in contact with as a kid that embedded the idea of ensemble casts in my head. Bleach, The Venture Brothers, A Song of Ice and Fire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Last Airbender (the animated series) are also high up on the list of things that have lent me their strength. I could go on ad nauseum, probably.
What was your favorite part of The Thief?
Probably the scene in the cafeteria where Jul is trying to avoid Rhys and inadvertently assembles all three narrators at one lunch table. There’s just so much going on in that one little section. All three of them have completely different things going on, and as the reader you’re aware of what Jul and Mac are probably thinking even though the scene is from Camille’s perspective. I’m just very pleased with the way that particular bit turned out.
Who is your favorite character and why?
I’m a little split here. Mac is made of magic writer fuel. Many times when I’ve been stuck, I’ve been able to switch to a Mac chapter and still forge forward. No matter how dire things get, Mac is always there to put things in perspective and make me laugh. If writers were witches, Mac would be my familiar.
Now if we’re talking about who I’d love the most if I were reading this series…that would have to be Kei. I really love Kei. He has this wonderful capacity for pissing off every other character in some way or other.
In three words describe your book.
Mirrored, woven, broken.
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Blog - Twitter - Book Site
Aine Crabtree is the creator / earth mother goddess of an alternate universe, where the good are sacrificed upon the Altar of Cliffhangers and the wicked flourish to prolong the dramatic tension. She lives in Huntsville, AL with Spike, the world’s cutest kitten, plotting her escape to somewhere less humid. She is still waiting to be recruited by the X-Men.
The Thief is her first novel.
