Novel Review: The Crystal Heist by Joanna White

I oringally revieved this novel on 03/11/20 on another blog I had, now defunct.

The Crystal Heist

Alyra is a thief desperately trying to survive in the slums of Lower Kryston. Every day is a constant struggle for survival, but no one will trust her because of her Thief Mark. After she ends up in prison, Alyra meets a mysterious stranger who soon changes her life. Makai protects her and together, they pull off a few scams that earn them a bit of money.

Yet it's still not enough.

Together, Alyra and Makai gather a ragtag team of thieves to pull off the greatest heist Kryston has ever seen. If they pull it off and steal the Sky Orb, the social classes will be destroyed and Kryston will be changed forever. But several members of their team have their own ideas of what to do with the Sky Orb...

Can they pull off the Crystal Heist to change Kryston forever or will their team's selfish goals stand in their way?

The Crystal Heist is a character-driven, fantasy adventure with characters that will stay with you long after the story is over.

Perspective by Peter:

I signed up to review this novel as part of the author's blog tour. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of White's novels and this new one is no exception.

In fact, I would say this is my favourite. This novel lives up to its description of being a character-driven story. You will become endeared to Alyra due to the plight she been forced into from birth. For those readers who enjoy strong female main characters, you will love Alyra. Now, this may be more female readers than male, but I have no problem with this. I love Alyra. Apart from this personality trait, she is also vulnerable and caring. White has depicted this well and shown what has contributed to this. All the residents of this orphanage suffer severe physical and mental abuse from the owner and this caused the older residents, namely Alyra and Gyran, to look after and look out for the younger residents who are unable to so for themselves. But her vulnerability comes from being abandoned into the orphanage, not having a secure environment for her to develop on every level and further abandonment from Gyran who failed to be there for her when her time came to leave the orphanage at 16 years of age.

White has portrayed this strength as also being on the streets where she became a thief. As is documented in real life, strength of character is developed to hide vulnerabilities and as they learn to rely on themselves to survive in this environment. However, Alyra seems to be like this from personality as well.

White has infused this novel with two other main characters, Gyran and Makai. It almost develops into a love triangle with both these two males falling in love with her and she not knowing who to decide between them. With both of them, they are not who they seem and the reasons for their betrayal of her are not malicious but due to the circumstances they are in. Their deception is not to hurt her but as in real life, everything one does to not hurt someone ends up doing just that.

Not knowing the reasons for both just adds suspense and plot twists. White shows Gyran hiding his reasons but with Makai, it all seems to the reader that he is sincere and genuine but once we see that these two have a past history, the waters become muddied with suspicion pointing towards him. This also only leads to more suspicion as to Gyran's motives.

But I found myself trusting these two. They are very likeable and despite their deception of Alyra, you can see that they are loyal to her and respect her. They both profess to love her.

And this also contributes to her sense of vulnerability and insecurity. It seems that Alyra has nothing to hide as far as her motives in surviving as a thief and the stigma that goes along with this, but it leaves her open to being used and betrayed. However, she does not give up on her faith in the Creator. Many times, no matter what situation she finds herself in, she submits this situation to the Creator, with mini, spontaneous, supplicative prayers asking for help and protection of her, Makai and all those in danger with her.

The other spiritual aspect of this novel, and it is not an obvious one, is that despite everything that goes wrong in her life, her being raised in the orphanage, her imprisonment, the stigma and rejection of being a thief, (reinforced by society through the Thief Mark on her cheek), the betrayal and deception from Gyran and Makai, she always remains positive and sees the good in people and her situation. It becomes obvious towards the end of the novel where this comes from, her faith and relationship with God. However, I would have liked to have seen more of the latter expressed through Alyra other than her supplicative prayers throughout the novel. White has a good foundation for expanding on this spirituality with what she has depicted through Ayla. I could see what White was doing in this novel; I just wanted to see more of it. It begged for more exposure. Therefore, I was not surprised then to read what White wrote in the Author Note at the end of the novel,

I loved the idea of a thief trying to make it in the slums of a city and the desire to change the social systems. The character dynamics in this story are strong and each scene was written to push the dynamics even further. I still tried to incorporate my beliefs as a Christian into this urban, fantasy adventure. Alyra relies on herself and mistrusts others but realizes at the end, that we need to rely on others, especially the Creator. In real life, we need to rely on God. We can’t do anything worthwhile apart from Him. His plan is always better than ours and He knows what’s best for us. We need to put our faith and trust in Him, even though it can be hard at times. I hope that this book touches, encourages, and uplifts you in some way and that it’s taught you to lean on God and not be ashamed to need His help. We all do.

And yes, we see Alyra learning to trust people and rely on God more towards the end of the novel. I feel it just needed to be more evident in Alyra. It would show just as in real life what God is capable of when an individual allows God to have His way in their life and direct their paths and what an active relationship is like between God and His created. White does not explain where Alyra developed her faith or learnt about God. It is obvious that it originated in the Orphanage but that is as far as it goes. It seems as if she just always had it, but she is the only one in this novel. And seeing that her faith enables her to change the social systems, leading to their Happy Ever After (HEA), there is scope her for her newly founded family (Gyran, Makai, the trio of brothers and others) would maybe want to know more about her God?

I would have liked also for White to explain the origin of the magic that is in the fabric of their existence and the origin of the Sky Orb. She has Alyra referring to God as Creator so this would imply that the magic and Orb is also part of this creation and of her world. If that is so, then I can see that the misuse of the Sky Orb to separate Upper and Lower Kryston into two separate social classes (one rich, the other poor, with the latter subservient to the former) would be not what the Creator intended and forms the basis for Alyra to change the social systems as White suggests.

I would also love to see a sequel to this novel. White ends this on a nice note as far as the orphanage, Alyra, Gyran, Makai and her "adopted" trio of brothers are concerned, but I left this novel with wanting more. I want to see how they prosper in this changed social system of their making. Maybe I am not happy with a HEA. I am not convinced that how White has mentioned the demise of the Black Mask is also part of this HEA. He played too much of an important part in this storyline an in relation to Alyra to be just gone! I also want to see what becomes of The Thief King, as he is shown engaging in nefarious activities in the Epilogue and this leaves the reader with questions unanswered. This leads me to consider that we may not have heard the last of all the characters we have seen in this novel.

I love the world-building that White has created here. White is very good at this, it is evident in all her novels. I love her imagination and how she ties everything together. Her characterisation is good also. You can relate to these characters, you empathise with them, become endeared. White shines as a character-driven writer. When a novel is plot-driven, I find that it can take over the characters and they run the risk of being depicted as two-dimensional and less relatable, and they are more at the mercy of the plot, and are less in control of their situation, just like a boat being tossed on the waves of the storm or choppy seas. That is not to say that all plot-driven novels are like this, it depends on the skill of the author.  A healthy balance of both works well, but some stories, like this one, function best when it is character-driven.

Despite the spiritual shortcomings, this is one very enjoyable novel and one that will leave a very satisfying feeling that lingers with you after finishing. But then again, I find this with all of White's novels. I pray White does not lose her passion for writing novels that entertain and are undergirded with her desire to instil Christian values and which "touches, encourages, and uplift" the reader.

Strongly Recommended. 

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Reviews help promote an author’s novel to potential readers and encourage the author to keep writing. Reviews also help get the author’s message (and God’s message) to the reader, who may need encouragement and support in their lives while being entertained by the story.

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