The Knight Thieves

by Jenn Bennett

Puss in The Last Wish meets Gail Carson Levine in this charming middle grade fractured fairy tale about an outlaw who teams up with a cursed prince to save the kingdom.

Former fair maiden Rosebud is dread bandit Ruthless Rose, leader of the small but mighty Blackhearts outlaw gang. Ever since the evil Firebrand army torched half their village, the thirteen-year-old daughter of a fallen knight has been living by her own code, picking off evil Firebrand caravans to avenge her village—and her father.

But Rosebud’s honor is put to the test when the Blackhearts mistakenly ambush a carriage smuggling a mysterious young Prince Fenrik. The shy prince is on the run from the Firebrands…and wearing a hexed wolf mask that can only be removed along with his head. Even worse, the magical object that can free the prince is hidden inside the darkly enchanted Nowhere Wood, where people go in, but they don’t come back out.

Helping people isn’t easy. Can a “bad” girl put aside her own need for revenge to save a good prince…and the entire kingdom?

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Adventure, Audiobook, Childrens, Fiction, Action

336 pages, Hardcover

Published July 30, 2024

About the author

Jenn Bennett is the author of over a dozen books for children and teens, including: ALEX, APPROXIMATELY; STARRY EYES; and GRUMBONES. She also writes romance and fantasy for adults. Her books have earned multiple starred reviews, been Goodreads Choice Award nominees, and have been included on annual Best Book lists for both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. She lives in a haunted house near Birmingham with one husband and two dogs. Visit her at www.jennbennett.net.

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Reviews

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

🐺 5 stars 🐺

I had so much fun listening to the audiobook for The Knight Thieves by Jenn Bennett. I highly recommend it if you want a fun fantasy adventure that will have you laughing and rooting for the Blackheart Bandits.

[Jessica Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this rollicking tale full of adventure, hijinks, and heart. The fantasy elements and variety of characters (and animals!) made this a book of page-turning fun for me. I'm already hoping for a sequel. Rosebud, aka Ruthless Rose, and her Blackhearts teammate Wilda are both tenacious and vulnerable in their desire to help their kingdom and save their loved ones. When they're joined by the wolfhead-cursed Prince Timo, the trio faces challenges they never dreamed of. Clever wording and foreshadowing, both dry and silly humor, and the highest of stakes (aka, people about to be burned at the actual stake) make this one a real winner. I look forward to reading more by Jenn Bennett!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, solid middle grade fantasy.

[Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright.

Rosebud takes a bit to warm up to as a protagonist. Wilda feels a lot like the "bigger, dumber sidekick" you find in a lot of children's cartoons and doesn't get much development, unlike Rosebud and Timo. I personally think the memey jokes and dialogue sprinkled throughout the book are rather cringe, but I'm not a ten year old, and they may find "Rick Roll" to be funny *shrug*.

I don't know if it was just an audiobook thing and me not hearing correctly, but it seems like the author could never remember the sex of the animal characters. One sentence they were a "he," a few sentences later they're a "she." And this happens multiple times. Again, unless I was just mishearing the audiobook. But I don't recall any human characters having this happen to them.

Finally, although the story goes into detail about what happens to the main tyrant, I don't recall them ever resolving what became of the tyrant's battle mage. Admittedly, I was listening to this at work on my phone, without headphones, and I would walk away from my phone now and then (it was still generally loud enough that I could hear it in other rooms), and my attention may not have been fully engaged, but the identity of the battle mage was a twist, they were there at the climax, and then...I just don't remember anything that happened to them. If I just missed it (and am too lazy to relisten) then disregard this. If not, that's a failing on the editors that they just never mention the mage again at some random point.

[Angie Ochoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to listen to on Audible (for free!). My kids and I enjoyed the tale of Rosebud, Wilda, Prince Timo and the rest. As a Gen Xer, I appreciated the reference to "rickroll" and what came with that in the last chapter. 😉 The book felt a little like a cross between The Warden and the Wolf King (part of the Wingfeather Saga) and Lord of the Rings.

Great book for upper elementary ages and up. Some more conservative parents might not appreciate some of the "language" like "crap", "dang", and "poop".

[Orii · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really wasn’t that good. I wish she thought about the wolf head decision more. I feel like the author should have done more with Mister Fury and that the end was a bit longer. If Otto was able to take over the kingdom shouldn’t it have taken a bit longer to beat him. And what about how the dragon was sick. By eating two canisters of stolen fire she has her fire back. Shouldn’t she have to eat the rest of them?

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Quirky, humorous, medieval fantasy adventure with a dragon and lots of girl power. There could likely be a sequel.

[Ashley Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely charming!

[Chuck Ledger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting world. I'd love to read another story set in it.

[Jessica Lerbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a weird mashup of quite-gruesome with childishly-anachronistically-silly. Not terrible, though.

[Heather McLaughlin]

This was sweet. A nice audio-roulette find. Will look for more by this author.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 ⭐️

[Bexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun and entertaining and has a lot of good jokes for adults too.

[Steff Fox · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like The Knight Thieves. The cover is absolutely stunning, and the premise—an outlaw girl teaming up with a cursed prince on a magical quest—is the sort that feels like it should be instantly engaging. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with the story.

A huge factor in this was Rosebud, a character who is supposed to be a clever and fearless leader, but instead felt impulsive, arrogant, and frustratingly reckless. Rather than being a cunning outlaw, she made rash decisions that often put others in danger, and instead of finding her charming or witty, she comes off as rather annoying. I love strong-willed protagonists, but Rosebud lacked the depth and emotional growth to make her likable or relatable. Her dynamic with Prince Timo had potential, but their interactions felt forced, and I never truly cared about their alliance. While his situation was far more interesting, reading through their journey often dragged.

Some of the problems with the pacing come directly from the minimal world building. The Nowhere Wood could have been a fascinating and immersive setting, but it felt like a collection of random magical encounters rather than a fully developed world. The magic system was vague and too many plot twists felt like convenient solutions rather than earned moments. Deus ex machina is still annoying, even when in a children’s book.

While I can see younger readers enjoying the fast-paced adventure and humor, there are certainly a multitude of other middlegrade books with similar premises who managed to tackle the writing and character development far better.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.