The characters are fantastic and we get a lot of character development for such a short book. Madeline seems like the perfect, got-it-all-together girl on the outside, but inside she is riddled with anxiety (she is still reeling from frequent bullying in the past) and her grades are teetering towards failing to graduate. As the frenetic story of reverse burglary goes on, Ella and Madeline have to confront the difficult-to-love aspects of each other and choose to help the other grow instead of walk away. They are aided by Ella’s best friend, the caustic Leslie, though a big part of the story is a reminder that you can’t just want your best friends around during bad times and need to allow them to be there for the good ones as well. The surprise twist on who Leslie’s boyfriend is was great and the dynamic of the two couples makes for a really heartwarming second half to the book.

The story begins with Ella waking up and going to school. Bryon draws each frame as a film shot, highlighting the objects around her room, and who she is, by subcultural aspiration, and as a person. The workaround " Object Oriented Ontology " and what materialism exists within Thieves is an important underlying theme. I don't want to get into the specifics of " OOO ," but try and imagine Ella's interest in fashion, movies, and parties (which is underneath the text and only presented through pictures) reveal a greater truth about life outside the narrative. Objects are connected to both the culture and subculture of Ella, where a simple cameo of In The Mood for Love reveals an ideological presence of who Ella is, as a human, and as an individual, through consumer objects. All of this leans towards something that has not been said, or explained, before. A cute queer graphic novel set in France during the last year of high school…What follows is a charming coming-of-age story with lovely, emotive illustrations.” Thieves is a rambunctious, charming story about high schoolers partying, falling in love, and committing acts of reverse larceny. The drawing style is incredibly appealing, with delightful acting and visual jokes that make this an absolute pleasure to read."Incredibly appealing, with delightful acting and visual jokes that make this an absolute pleasure to read. I love stories like this that manage to be fun and upbeat while still dealing productively with issues of mental health and self-confidence. This book is a great reminder that people’s interior life likely does not match the outward front they present to the world, and that Bryon really embraces flawed characters and makes them more loveable with their quirks and shortcomings is really wonderful. Also who doesn’t love an adorable sapphic love story!? Keep bringing the queer coming-of-age tales, publishers. Theives is a great time with great art and you should let it steal your heart too. Reading Thieves is like going on a decidedly queer adventure - full of heart, tension, beauty, and so much love. Add in to that the gorgeous art, and you’ve got yourself a truly wonderful book.' - Tillie Walden, creator of Are You Listening I "read" Thieves once, and rather than reading, maybe instead I just felt tender and warm over the cute, girly pictures, which I fell in love immediately with, just wishing that there were indeed, in reality, badass girls like Ella and Madeleine that share the same desires I have.

Also it comes highly recommended by Alice Oseman, Molly Knox Ostertag, and my personal favorite graphic novelist Tillie Walden, and those three are amazing. This is a fairly new arrival, and we haven't yet had the opportuity to sit down and read it, but we can tell you that it looks great, and feel that there are sure to be some Copacetic customers who would like to get their hands on it, so we're going to hand off our listing to the publisher, NoBrow, and some other fans of the book that will likely be familiar to readers of this space: With distinctive characters, lush art, and an off-kilter sapphic romance at its core, this will surely steal teen readers' hearts." Thieves is a rambunctious, charming story about high schoolers partying, falling in love, and committing acts of reverse larceny. The drawing style is incredibly appealing, with delightful acting and visual jokes that make this an absolute pleasure to read.” A cute queer graphic novel set in France during the last year of high school...What follows is a charming coming-of-age story with lovely, emotive illustrations.”Reading Thieves is like going on a decidedly queer adventure - full of heart, tension, beauty, and so much love. Add in to that the gorgeous art, and you've got yourself a truly wonderful book. Thieves worship an identity politic that the liberal world can't handle yet. What was supposed to be dressed as Malthusian social control, instead of dancing around a subculture that might incite revolution against whiteness? Maybe the truth is that "Eurasian lesbianism" is a new form of whiteness. I don’t know. My heart has been stolen by Thieves, the upbeat and adorably queer graphic novel from Lucie Bryon. Which is fitting, as the catalyst for Ella and Madeline’s blossoming romance happens to be an act of drunken larceny that makes for a riotous premise. Ella crashes a party and meets Madeline, the girl she has been crushing on. The two hit it off, but Ella wakes up the next morning to discover she stole random stuff from the party. And then that the party was at Madeline’s house… but Madeline also likes to steal to feel a tiny bit of control in her life. What ensues is a hilarious romcom as the two girls try to make things right by crashing parties to secretly return everything they’ve ever stolen. It is such an adorable book, especially since Ella and Madeline are so cute together: Reading Thieves is like going on a decidedly queer adventure - full of heart, tension, beauty, and so much love. Add in to that the gorgeous art, and you've got yourself a truly wonderful book." An adorable sapphic romance about two teens who steal! Such a sweet and funny story with complex, flawed characters that you can't help but love, along with gorgeous, emotive artwork.' - Alice Oseman, creator of Heartstopper

They say "Necessity is the mother of invention." It is a necessity to write what you know. Importantly, with regards to creative writing, or even "fantasy memoirs," you write out of a necessity to tell the world what and how you feel, where these feelings were not known before. For Ella, we are understanding what it means to be her, and how others like her can “come out,” and represent a new subculture. Thieves is about her love for Madeleine, a white female, and how she discovers herself through her desires. But for sure, I'll take Eurasian lesbianism anytime, as it is the same idealism that a white nationalist advocating homosexuality would have because, to the white nationalist, homosexuality is unique in white sexual interest.With distinctive characters, lush art, and an off-kilter sapphic romance at its core, this will surely steal teen readers’ hearts.” A cute queer graphic novel set in France during the last year of high school...What follows is a charming coming-of-age story with lovely, emotive illustrations." Reading Thieves is like going on a decidedly queer adventure – full of heart, tension, beauty, and so much love. Add in to that the gorgeous art, and you’ve got yourself a truly wonderful book.” Thieves is a rambunctious, charming story about high schoolers partying, falling in love, and committing acts of reverse larceny. The drawing style is incredibly appealing, with delightful acting and visual jokes that make this an absolute pleasure to read.' - Molly Knox Ostertag, The Witch Boy series and The Girl From the Sea