The Moment Thief by Courtney Grace Powers
A City Haunted by Memory, a Girl Hunted by Truth
Courtney Grace Powers’ The Moment Thief is a genre-blending marvel that fuses intricate world-building, sharp characterization, and a deeply philosophical take on time travel into a sweeping young adult sci-fi epic. In the rain-soaked city of Eito, where ghosts flicker in alleyways and the past is both archived and manipulated by a secretive temporal order, a royal misfit named Charluxa “Charlie” Eito finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that may unmake her city—and time itself.
The story follows Charlie, the socially isolated younger princess of the Eito Dynasty, who is haunted—literally—by ghosts only she can see. Her quiet, fractured world collides with that of Nash Toyoku and Darkly Rin, jaded operatives of the Royal Order of Chrono-Archivists (TROCA), when a routine mission goes catastrophically wrong. A sleeper—the person swapped into the present while a jack enters the past—ends up dead, causing a Level Four temporal ripple that rewrites reality. As the city locks down and the political order teeters, Charlie, Nash, and Darkly must navigate altered truths, bureaucratic cover-ups, and personal betrayals to uncover the truth behind the murder and its far-reaching consequences.
The novel delves into complex themes with an unflinching gaze: identity, legacy, memory, and the ethics of rewriting history. Through Charlie’s ghostly visions and the operatives’ time-altering missions, Powers explores what it means to be shaped by the past, and whether one’s moments can be stolen—by trauma, by politics, or by choice. The tension between determinism and agency is ever-present, as is the cost of progress in a city where forgetting the past is institutionalized through comnesia and amnesia. The work resonates with echoes of The Giver, Inception, and The Left Hand of Darkness, yet remains unmistakably original.
Charlie, Nash, and Darkly form the emotional core of the narrative, each richly drawn with internal conflicts and compelling arcs. Charlie is ethereal yet determined; Nash is stoic but principled; Darkly, cynical and bruised, delivers the book’s most poignant reflections. Their dynamic is believable, layered with history, tension, and moments of genuine warmth. The supporting cast—particularly Queen Gittan, Theory, and King Ikeida—add political heft and emotional weight.
Eito City itself is a triumph of world-building. The stratified districts—Steeples, Shoals, and Undertow—evoke a vivid vertical society, while the Meridian Shale and Citadel provide a mesmerizing backdrop for the story’s temporal mechanics. Like Ready Player One or Neuromancer, the setting is not just a backdrop, but a living entity shaping the plot.
From the haunting prologue to the harrowing scenes of temporal fallout, the book maintains a gripping pace. Powers balances moments of quiet introspection with adrenaline-laced action, particularly the launch scenes into the past. The midpoint twist involving the sleeper’s murder escalates the tension dramatically, and the narrative never loses its momentum thereafter.
Powers’ prose is confident, elegant, and often lyrical—fitting for a story where past, present, and possibility blur. Her use of dual perspectives—Charlie’s ghost-ridden solitude and Nash/Darkly’s procedural rigor—provides tonal contrast and narrative breadth. Dialogue is crisp and character-specific, while the exposition of the time-travel system is embedded smoothly into the action without overwhelming the reader.
The novel’s primary strength lies in its ambition. It marries science fiction with psychological depth, court politics with coming-of-age, and social commentary with speculative invention. If there is a weakness, it may be that the complexity of the timeweave and its implications requires close attention. Some readers may find the terminology dense early on, though this complexity ultimately pays off in emotional and narrative resonance.
The Moment Thief is a bold, beautiful debut that asks difficult questions about memory, trauma, and who gets to control history. With cinematic world-building and resonant characters, it stands out in a crowded YA sci-fi landscape. Readers who appreciate immersive settings, character-driven narratives, and philosophical depth will find much to admire.
Highly recommended for fans of Scythe by Neal Shusterman, A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab, and This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Ideal for readers aged 14 and up, particularly those with an interest in morally complex stories and innovative world-building.
—N3UR4L Reviews
