A beautiful tale of sea creatures, adventure and nature protection.

The River Thief is a charming middle-grade adventure that follows Adderley on a journey to help her mysterious new friend, Ef, a sea creature whose fate is tied to the titular river. As Adderley sails from her rural home to the city, the novel weaves themes of environmental conservation and the delicate balance between nature and humankind.

The story is engaging - though at times a little slow - with its rich, folktale-inspired characters. From castles and riverside huts to boats in search of treasure, the characters are instantly relatable and full of heart, making it easy for readers to become attached to them.

The River Thief offers a beautiful exploration of nature’s importance and the spirit of adventure, making it an enjoyable read for young readers who appreciate environmental themes and classic adventure stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Picadilly Press for the ARC. This is my honest opinion of the novel. This review is available on Goodreads.

Adventurous and magically warm, I really enjoyed The River Thief after a slow start. Adderley is a smart and conscientious scientifically minded heroine and her compassionate, thoughtful and logical ways made for a great protagonist. I loved being on this riverward adventure with her and Ef, and the free-flowing prose perfectly captures the time and mood of a bygone England.

A super quick read. I enjoyed the story that Hannah Peck crafted here about memories and relationships across history. I liked the characters quite a bit.

This is a gorgeous story, and beautifully written. The prose captures the feeling of Seventeenth-century life, but is easily readable. I loved the scientific-minded heroine and her reaction when thrown into a magical adventure. It's warm, thoughtful, and touching.

My middle grade grandchildren read this with an older cousin. They had previously read the Scarlet and Ivy books and really enjoyed them. The thought that this was a good book but thought that Ef "creeped them out at the beginning", but grew on them. They were not sure that they liked the time setting of the book but that is just personal preference. Overall they would like more books in this series featuring the same characters.