The Theft of Sunlight

I have been a fan of Intisar Khanani's storytelling since I stumbled onto the previously published version of Thorn and I have not been disappointed in any of them. Theft of Sunlight starts off shortly after the conclusion of The Bone Knife, the short story that's included at the end of Thorn, and almost immediately after the events which take place in Thorn. The story follows Rae, a girl who has grown up with the harsh disdain thrown at her by people for her turned foot. She has the love of her family, and her family's horse farm, and her sisters, and doesn't need anything else until her friend's sister goes missing, and a previously-unwanted invitation to spend the summer with her cousin in the palace becomes more appealing if it gives her a chance to ask questions about what the rulers are doing about the plague of snatchers that kidnap children all over the country. Instead of helping out her cousin though, Rae finds herself unwittingly drawn into intrigue and danger when she ends up attending on the foreign princess, who has only recently been restored to her own self after the events of Thorn. One thing that I love about Intisar's writing is that she does not shy away from difficult themes and topics. Turning from a story of abuse, Intisar now tackles prejudice faced by those with a physical disability as well as the uncomfortable topic of child trafficking. Rae's difficulties are not only with the dangers she finds herself in, but with her own jaded world view where she has learned the beauty is not to be trusted, and with her own feeling of inadequacy. I know that Theft of Sunlight is the first book of a duology and therefore the ending here is unfortunately very abrupt, which is often a disappointment or a turn-off for people, however sometimes a story comes along where you just have to go and jump off that cliff and wait a while to land, because you know wherever it ends up being, it will be good. Theft of Sunlight is one such story and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel. Disclaimer: I did receive an ARC copy of this book for a review, but also purchased my own copy.