A complex book about the life that some children are forced to live in the slums of third world countries - especially those that have corrupt governments and officials, controlling the slums.

Interesting story, but suffered from some pacing issues, and the slangy sort-of-Cockney dialect was distracting. I did like the setting a lot - a future London that sometimes feels a lot like the past until a cell phone shows up in somebody’s pocket. ( )

What's She Thief about?In this novel we get to know two young thieves, Baz and Demi, they're living in a bad neighborhood in a South American city. Both of the children are orphans and they have been raised by a women named Fay. Fay has teached them how to be the best pickpockets in the city in order to survive. Everything Baz and Demi steal goes to Fay, in return she gives them shelter, food and money for clothing. The three of them have been together for what feels like forever, they're almost like family. But just almost, if anyone breaks Fay's rules they're gone!My thoughts:When I opened this book I didn't really know what to expect, and really that for me is a good thing. I tend to have so high expectations when it comes to books everyone seems to fall in love with. I often end up disappointed. She Thief started out a bit slow for me, I felt there were so many long sentences and the English slang/dialect being used kind of annoyed me. After 30 pages everything that bothered me was forgotten and I was sucked into the world of the two friendly thieves, Baz and Demi, their friends and a whole bunch of other more dangerous criminals.Daniel Finn managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, almost throughout the entire book. I was never sure where he was taking his characters. never felt sure if all the people I came to love would have a happy ending, would end up dead in a ditch somewhere or locked up in the Castle forever(or worse working in the Mountain). I cried and cried when I read the last few pages last night and today the characters have been in the back of my mind all day.I loved the dialog between Demi and Baz, they're friendly banter is guaranteed to make you smile. She Thief for me was a story about never letting go of your friends and family, sometimes bad things happen but you don't just close your eyes and move on with your own life like nothing ever happened. Even in the worst thinkable places there can be good people, you cannot live your life without trusting a single soul. That's no way to lead your life.Daniel Finn writes about a corrupted system that sadly still exists in many countries. It really is a horrible thing to reflect about, how many people have been wronged by this kind of way to governing? We also get to see a way of life that's the only option for survival for many, many young children living in poor countries, stealing. The most heart wrenching for me was reading about the children and the families working on the Mountain(a recycling compound/dumpster), getting sick by all the filth and garbage they live and breathe every single day. Sadly this is also the way of life for many poor people in real life.The story is a bit like a modern Oliver Twist, I haven't read the book myself but I know how the story goes.She Thief is a great young adult thriller. I really loved reading it and it made me even more grateful for everything I got.The cover:I just noticed that some has made complaints about the cover since the two main characters is described as having dark skin. I can understand the complaints but for me it's highly unlikely that the girl on the cover is supposed to be 13-14 year old Baz. In the book she is described as a girl looking just like a boy, very unlikely that she wears any makeup. For me the girl on the cover is Fay, their leader, she's described as a girl with fair skin and red hair in her late twenties/early thirties. ( )

For the first book that I received for review it was very disappointing. In my opinion the synopsis makes it sound much more exciting than it really is. I was about half way through before I got into it and it picked up the pace.

One thing that made it difficult was that it was in third person, which usually doesn't matter, but in this book meant that I never completely connected with the characters. Another thing was that the dialect was annoying. I understand that they are supposed to be uneducated street thieves, but how hard is it to add a "d" at the end of your words to make them past tense?

Once I got through those things it was pretty good. The lives of Baz and Demi were interesting to read about, and the storyline was good. I just wish that the beginning wasn't so slow, and that I could have connected more with Baz, as the main character. ( )

This is a modern day take on Oliver Twist. The main characters live in a ghetto where they are looked after by Fay. In return for her care Baz and Demi have to steal for her. They have to run the gauntlet of the police and try to evade capture, othewise they fear being forced to work on the mountain, a place that no-one returns from. One day they take a valuable item that belongs to a very powerful and corrupt man. The plot then thickens as we learn how Fay and this man are linked, and we discover a little about how Fay has come to end up living the life that she does. I found Two Good Thieves to be a good little read and was hooked until the very end. I only gave it 4 stars as I would have loved to hear more about Fay's previous life and that of Baz and Demi, too. ( )