The Thief of Always: Difference between revisions

 

 

Harvey quickly befriends the incumbent residents of the house: two other kids named Wendell and Lulu, kindly caretaker Mrs. Griffin and her seemingly sentient cats, and two of Rictus' "siblings". However, some sinister hints are dropped, such as the collection of [[Infant Immortality|children's]] [[Averted Trope|clothes]] in the attic, the forbidden lake behind the House, and mentions of a fourth member of Rictus' family called "[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Carna]]". Above all, who is Mr. Hood and where does he get his power from? Eventually, Harvey's curiosity and growing suspicions about the House lead him to discover some unpleasant truths...

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Due to Hood's magic, only children can find the house. When adults try, all attempts to find the House fail.

* [[Animorphism]]

* [[The Barnum]]: {{spoiler|Hood gains immortality by luring in gullible, greedy, lazy or just plain lonely children to the Holiday House and then taking their souls when they've spent enough time there.}}

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: The book's premise

* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|The heroes escape Holiday House, but they have to go back to their separate time periods. When Harvey encounters Lulu again outside the House, she's already grown up and engaged.}}

* [[Body Horror]]: {{spoiler|Lulu's gradual transformation into a fish.}}

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]

* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Mrs. Griffin

* [[Dark Is Evil]]: But it's hard to spot the darkness at first...

* {{spoiler|[[Devour the Dragon]]}}

* {{spoiler|[[Did Not Get the Girl]]}}

* {{spoiler|[[Epiphanic Prison]]}}

* [[The Faceless]]: Mr. Hood does {{spoiler|make a "body" for himself from the remains of Holiday House}}, but his true face is never seen.

* [[The Fog of Ages]]: Mrs. Griffin

* [[Foreshadowing]]: Harvey's transformation into a vampire for Halloween

* [[Giving Them the Strip]]: Henry is grabbed by the back of the jacket, so he slips out of his jacket to escape.

* [[Happy Place]] / [[Lotus Eater Machine]]: Holiday House

* [[He Who Must Not Be Seen]]: Mr. Hood, for the majority of the book

* [[Immortality Immorality]]

* [[Kid Hero]]

* [[Kindhearted Cat Lover]]: Mrs. Griffin

** Strictly speaking, {{spoiler|Hood}} is ''completely'' correct in this assessment; they've both stolen things that make a person what they are -- things that should never be taken by anyone. {{spoiler|Hood has stolen the souls of the children lured to his Holiday House, while Harvey has stolen the lives of Hood's illusory minions}} The difference comes in ''why'' they did it -- Harvey did it {{spoiler|to lure out Hood so he could defeat him and save the children trapped there}}, while {{spoiler|Hood has merely done it to extend his warped existence and feed his unholy hunger.}} The difference between heroism and villainy sometimes isn't in '''what''' you do, but '''why''' you do it. Not the sort of thing you tend to see in a children's book.

* [[Older Than They Look]]: The residents of the House

* [[Our Souls Are Different]]: {{spoiler|Losing yours apparently causes you to turn into a fish.}}

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]

* [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]: Rictus and his family

* [[The Renfield]]: Rictus is revealed to be one.

* [[The Reveal]]

* [[Right Behind Me]]: {{spoiler|After Hood is seemingly defeated, Rictus reveals that he had secretly stolen some of Hood's power for himself. But then a hand reaches out of the ruins of the House and grabs him... }}

* [[Title Drop]]: In a [[Not So Different]] moment, {{spoiler|"Vampire King" Hood}} tells Harvey he is a "Thief of Always" just like him.

* [[Trapped in Another World]]

* [[We Can Rule Together]]: {{spoiler|Hood}} plays this straight with {{spoiler|Harvey}}.

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]

* [[Your Princess Is in Another Castle]]

 

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