Thank you very much to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own :)

After reading the duology of The Merciful Crow, I knew I needed more from Margaret Owen. I was not disappointed by Little Thieves and thoroughly enjoyed this morally grey cast of characters. I absolutely love Vanja and her story. Vanja, an adopted daughter of Fortune and Death, she becomes the servant of Princess Giselle. When her mothers demand a hefty price, Vanja decides to take matters into her own hands and steals Giselle's princess life for her own needs, leaving Giselle in a weird state of mind. Vanja leads a double life of wearing the mask of a Princess and also thievery. One day goes wrong and crosses the path of the wrong god, Vanja is cursed and has to figure out how to break that curse.

Again, I love this book. I love villainy, morally grey characters and Vanja is written so well and is greatly developed as our main voice. This story is a retelling of The Goose Girl and Owen does an amazing job of retlling the story with huge twists.

5 stars!

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen is a brilliant novel, just incredible writing and storytelling craft!

HIGHLIGHTS
~turns out you get a little messed up if your moms are gods
~slowly turning into gemstones is Not A Good Time
~a shapeshifter’s guide to humans: be a squirrel and let them get on with it
~this is a TERF-free fairytale
~“I cannot believe I’m attracted to a human civics primer.”

I don’t think the Goose Girl is a very well-known fairytale, and it you do know it, you probably know either the Brothers Grimm version, or the exquisite retelling by Shannon Hale that was published in 2003 (and which I strongly reccomend, because it is, as I said, exquisite).

Hale’s retelling sticks very closely to the Grimm version of the story.

Owen’s does not. And I am very glad, because it’s awesome.

If you don’t know the fairytale, the most important part is that a wicked maid steals the identity of her nobleborn mistress, leaving the original, true princess to suffer life as a peasant (sometimes after the maid has tried to kill her). Vanja is the wicked maid of the story, but it’s immediately clear that she’s far less one-dimensional than her Grimm counterpart: abandoned by her birth mother, Vanja has been raised by two of the Low Gods – Death and Fortune. But the Low Gods don’t do anything for free, and once she was old enough her new mothers told her she had to choose which of them she would serve – not as a respected priestess or anything, but as a servant or slave – for the rest of her life. Weirdly enough, Vanja wasn’t super in love with this plan and refused to choose, so now she’s living among other mortals, with the deal being that whoever she calls on for help first – Death or Fortune – is the one she’ll serve.

Vanja has no intentions of calling on either of them ever, and she has a plan to get herself beyond their reach for good. It involves being a brilliant cat-burglar, and, disguised as the princess she betrayed, taking the Empire’s nobility for everything they’ve got.

And it’s all going great – right up until another Low God curses her to turn into jewels as punishment for her greed, and the princess’s monstrous fiance comes home early. And the cherry on top? An investigator has arrived to look into Vanja’s robberies.

When it rains, it pours.

I don’t usually like first-person, but I think it was exactly the right choice for this story, because getting the reader inside Vanja’s head is critical. At first glance, what she’s done – stealing princess Giselle’s identity, stealing gold and jewelry from dozens of people – looks immoral, and maybe it is. But it’s very hard to believe that when you learn and understand Vanja’s reasons, not all of which are revealed at once. Yes, she’s out to escape her adopted mothers, but there’s a lot more to it than that. This is fundamentally a story about classism, not just in the sense that Owen is critiquing the system that gives a few people everything and takes-takes-takes from the rest, but this is a story that demands we get down from our high horses; that the reason many criminals turn to crime is because the world’s pushed them there, and we need to acknowledge that. It’s not as simple as this person broke the law and should be condemned out of hand and forever for it.

The little thief steals gold, but the great one steals kingdoms; and only one goes to the gallows…

It’s complicated, and messy, and maybe not so easy to tell who’s in the right and who’s in the wrong.

Not that Owen lectures us with this; it’s something that unfolds naturally in the process of telling the story. Something we can’t help but work out for ourselves as we see what Vanja has to deal with – and what she’s had to deal with, in carefully chosen flashes of the past.

And there’s just no getting away from the fact that Vanja is a brilliant character, the kind you love to love – prickly, smart, snarky–

“You see,” I say gravely, “when two people love each other very much, or at least think the other’s passable if you squint–”

–and secretly, terribly lonely. Even if that’s not something she can admit to herself.

So it’s a good thing the rest of the cast sparkles as it gathers around her. Some take a little longer than others to show their best sides, but others you’ll adore immediately, like the delightfully feral demigoddess Ragne, the daughter of the Low God who cursed Vanja and whose task is to oversee Vanja’s attempts to ‘return what she stole’. I have a special place in my heart for feral characters who don’t understand clothes or why humans make things so complicated all the time! Much easier to shapeshift into a squirrel or cat and let the humans be weird.

But the way they all come together reminds me a little bit of heist stories – even though this isn’t a heist story, it has all the best aspects of one, like found family that has each other’s backs, a team of allies who click together like puzzle pieces, and a brilliant, daring plan that needs to be pulled off without a hitch.

There’s quite a lot to juggle, but Owens never drops the ball. There’s so much story packed into these pages, but the book never feels overfull or rushed; the pacing is perfect, and there’s never a dull moment – even the quieter scenes are vitally important, poignant, powerful. And the writing itself is just as wonderful as it was in The Merciful Crow duology, Owen’s previous books (which made it onto my Best of the Decade list, so, you know, take it as read that Owens is one hell of a writer, okay?), action-packed but still lyrical, with imagery you won’t forget in a hurry;

I find Irmgard’s face twisted with pure, seething fury. Then it’s sucked under like a spider drowned in icing.

I mean. !!! That is gross and visceral and the perfect way to describe it. Gah!

And because I’m me, I can’t finish this review without mentioning the worldbuilding. Owen has gone ahead and created a whole new world for Vanja’s tale, one that uses lords-and-ladies era Germany/Prussia as a starting point (I think – there’s an Empress and castles and lots of German words, anyway, especially for sausages!) and then spirals from there into something much more unique. Some things, like kobolds and nachtmaren, take their names from and are obviously inspired by Germanic and Slavic folklore, but what won my heart were the Low Gods – universal powers and concepts given (mostly) humanoid form. Owen’s imagination goes beautifully wild with the Low Gods – I adored details like Fortune’s crown of coins and bones, and the fact that the Low Gods change drastically from region to region – not every iteration of Fortune has a crown, for example, or even a humanoid shape.

the wreath of coins about her brow shimmered and flipped, changing from copper to coal to silver to gold.

There’s also the fact that this is a world completely lacking in queerphobia. Vanja herself is very clearly coded as demisexual, but we also have sapphic characters in our cast, and glimpse several characters who use they/them pronouns, as well as several men with husbands. Maybe my favourite detail in this respect was the inclusion of trans people; although there aren’t any among our cast, we know they exist, and are accepted, and maybe best of all, it’s made very clear that our sapphic characters would happily marry trans women – because women are women regardless of what’s between their legs, thanks.

Owen’s world may have evil fiances using monsters to clear their way to the throne, but TERFs can GTFO and stay-the-fuck gone!

Which is all to say – this book seriously rocks, people. It’s deep and fast and clever, and beautiful in all sorts of unexpected ways. It has many giggle-moments. It’s such an amazing, expansive retelling.

It’s bloody brilliant, and if you haven’t pre-ordered it already, you should.

Little Thieves is a dark and delicious re-telling of a fairytale. It brings to life a smart, funny, clever, and cunning main character and brings a classic tale into the modern age. The story is packed full of magic, Gods, Nobility, action, romance, twists, turns, stunning world building and characters that will have you rooting for more.

The heroine or anti-heroine I should say, Vanja is a very strong character that makes this story pop. She has an elegance to her but also a kicka** ability to hold her own with fellow humans as well as the Gods. I loved reading about her many dimensions and the fact that she might not be who you think she is…

The plot is wonderful as the author created not only a magical world where queer and nonbinary characters are as common and accepted as cisgender characters, but also where magic and a variety of Gods blend flawlessly. There is romance, there is action, there is violence and there is a satisfying story.

I don’t think I could have loved this dark story anymore then I do. I received an ARC via NetGalley and Macmillian Children’s Publishing Group (Henry Holt and Co.) and I am leaving an honest review.

Triggers List: Violence, Attempted rape (off page), emotional abuse, physical abuse.

From the dedication, before the story even began, I already was in love with this story- and then as I met the characters and the world, I just feel for it even more. This was my most anticipated book of the year, and I trust Margaret Owen to write incredibly things, but it still blew me away even more than I'd expected!

I love every single one of these characters! I want so much more with them in it! I was a sequel and a novella and a short story! Owen never fails to write interesting, flawed, dynamic, likable characters that are all so different from each other, and this books feels like a masterclass in how to write a good cast.
I love Vanja! Chaotic, morally grey characters with just enough of a moral compass to really irritate them are my favorite, and the way Vanja is written is just phenomenal. She's a great snarky, funny, brutal character with a soft side that actually feels like it might kill her if she shows it for more than a microsecond. I love how she's allowed to have this very abrasive personality, and then actual reasons for why she would have come up with these coping mechanisms and moral ideas, and by the end neither one has overpowered the other, she just becomes truly well rounded.
Thanks to Owen's character cards I already knew I loved Emeric, but getting to know him on page was so surprising and fun. And his dynamic with Vanja is great! I was doubtful at first, but as his actual personality comes out- both through actions and through getting to see his more inner self thanks to Vanja's snooping through his journal- he makes complete sense and their chemistry and interactions are fun and compelling.

I 100% did not expect to like the romance as I saw the very first inkling of it, but that was near the beginning, when Emeric was still only surface level. And I tell you, I reversed my position on that so fast I got dizzy. Their chemistry, as I said, is really great, and it produces these wildly entertaining scenes it's hard to take your eyes off of, and they feel very much like matched pairs while still being distinct. And as Vanja's vulnerability comes out a little more, Emeric makes sense for her in a whole new way, so that as you're exploring their different facets of the characters you're also exploring different facets of their relationship.

And, of course, I have to mention the representation. There's a good handful of representation in general in this book, but I was not at all expecting asexual rep, nor was I expecting it to be doubly represented in both the main character and love interest! And, even beyond the miracle that that is, the moments where asexuality gets referenced (though not by name), it doesn't fall into any of the negative stereotypes or have any talk of being "broken" which is a relief. And we also don't have a rushed romantic arc in order to get the demi character to "grow" or to show how much they love them via physical affection, which happens far more often than it should, and was a relief to not have to deal with.

Outside of the characters, I love the world gleaned in this story, and I thought it really succeeded as a fairy tale adaptation. I think a good adaptation needs to be inspired by the story enough to be recognizable as it but also stand alone well enough that you don't need to know the source material- and this book definitely nails that. All the references are fantastic and I was happy to see them, and while being unique the general structure of the plot itself felt like it respected the original, but you don't have to know anything about The Goose Girl to absolutely love this book.

And, as always, Owen's writing is astounding. It's lush and coarse depending on the moment, heavy and buoyant, always captivating enough that you want to lean in. I adore Owen's writing style, and she does such a good job here accentuating the setting with her descriptions.

It's hard to overstate how much I loved this book! I actually read my advanced copy and then preordered a physical one immediately after because I knew I was going to want to reread it a thousand times, which never happens! This is a fun, magical book of low gods, gambling, and complicated morality that is impossible to stop thinking about.

Literally drafted this in the car so fast, maybe movement made the juices flow…Wait that sounded so wrong, ignore. Little Thieves. A work of art at this point. It’s honestly difficult to explain why I enjoyed this book so much, but let’s get to brain dumping.

Little Thieves is a loose retelling of The Goose Girl about a girl named Vanja who was given away by her mother to Fortune and Death when she was a youngin. Vanja goes on to become a servant, take the life (not like kill like literally become, but not possess) of the princess who’s maid she used to be with the help of some enchanted pearls, become a thief to steal money so she can leave her life, to ultimately getting caught. The book continues on with her “catching” and all the problems that arise with that including a scrawny yet adorable boy, curses, lots of rubies, old friends (and enemies?), and an innocent little shapeshifting thing who we swear to protect with our life.

I'm doing a separated review again kinda like The Taking of Jake Livingston because I actually have things to say in a cohesive way (for once). So here we go…

The world. This book had some of my most favorite world-building that I've read in a long, long time. It somehow managed to convey so much without explaining barely anything. The info dump count: try 0. And in all books there's an info dump, so that goes to say how much I didn't mind because it managed to keep me engaged enough that it didn't feel like an info dump at all. Also, the mini chapters(?) that come before the actual plot at each "tale" were great. The weird sounding third-person almost formed a detachment from the book and you're looking on from a bystander type of point-of-view before you obviously jump back into the book.

So the world/setting in Little Thieves is fairly average fantasy sort of setting. There's a castle, a village, some markets, a river (because that's basically necessary), a forest (again, same). That basically sounds medieval (ish) and that really is what it is. Also, very much German (I don't think I actually processed that until Vanja went off with her sausage jokes but called them wurst something…brb gonna go find a quote). Alright here we are, Ragne (the shapeshifter I mentioned said, "'One shouted that she is selling the wurstkuss. Why would…'" Yeah, Google Translate that bad boy, it's exactly what you're thinking but oh my lord so much more literal *crying emoji because it's seriously never been more necessary, ah Ragne*.

Alright, moving on: the characters. Vanja Schmidt (who had like three other names in the book, it was kind of confusing). Emeric Conrad. Ragne Last-Name-Unknown-And-Probably-Nonexistant. Gisele Really-Long-Last-Name-That-I-Will-Not-Bother-Typing. And, Adalbrecht von Reigenback. Okay, so Vanja has quite a few flaws that are actually really prominent through the book, but the most focused (and obvious one) is basically her self-esteem (or lack, thereof). Not necessarily self-esteem, I suppose but more like not having high enough thoughts of herself that she can't imagine anyone caring about her enough that she only relies on herself until she realized that she doesn't need to (and that basically takes her the entire novel). But she's also such a great MC protagonist because she's so two-sided and oh so hilarious. I would give a quarter my life for Vanja Schmidt, for real. The other quarter is for Emeric and the last half is for Ragne. Emeric. A literal bean of a boy. It's been so long since I've read about an innocent acting love interest, like honestly. Authors have to let go of morally gray and give me wholesome fluff because I would die for Emeric way before, oh I don't know, Azriel, I guess that's what everyone thinks of first with morally gray right…Ragne as we've been over is a super weird (and by weird I mean extremely cool) shapeshifter who can turn into humans too. Gisele, former princess before tea with Vanja happens. And, our antagonist, barf-worthy, Adalbrecht von Barfenback. Just, ew. Fuck him. That is all. (Wow, that paragraph ended up being so long, gosh.)

Anyway, on that extremely long note. I absolutely adored Little Thieves. It's one of the best fantasy books I've read and almost better because of it's simplicity. It was just so easy to read (predictable, albeit which is the reason I dropped half a star). But, truly, it's amazing. Usually I will drop ratings a few days after reading them but I already know this book has made it onto comfort level reread so, READ IT.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to review this book.

Unfortunately, I didn't get too far into the story because I was concerned about the author's note to the reader about child abuse and neglect. I appreciate this warning and the empathy behind it. Best of luck to this author and I hope I can read her work in the future.

Unfortunately, it seems that I am in a reading slump, and I was not able to get into this book. In the first chapter, I knew that I could root for a character like Vanja, but that wasn't enough to keep me reading. The cover and the story summary drew me in, and I’m disappointed that I couldn’t finish the book.

This is like... the most picture perfect tour de force if I've ever read one. What a lovely retelling of The Goose Girl!
It was genuine, original, snarky, and witty. It was hilarious and it was beautiful. I was hooked right from the beginning!

The main protagonist lives in a world built as a dark Fairytale. She is brave and cunning and she was really easy to connect to. Her personality was rich and felt real, not at all forced or bland . The side characters, while all familiar personalities and motives at first, seem to diverge later on and that was really neat to see.

I ADORED the setting and the scene and the worldbuilding. I wanted to get lost in the pages and never come back up for air. It was absolutely fantastic. It was interesting and well thought out, original in its very own way. That, alone, was a breath of fresh air!

Overall, I think the plot did shine a bit less than the characters this becoming a very character-driven read, but I still rate this five entire stars. It never really veered off course and the plot flowed so nicely, but man, those characters! WELL DONE MARGARET! I wish every author created and wrote characters like she does.

Thank you for the eBook for my honest review!

I give this book 3.5 stars. I enjoyed it and am glad I read it, but I would not read it again. The main character, Vanja is hilarious. I love how she addresses the reader throughout the story with humor. She is flawed in all the right ways, but absolutely relatable. She knows where she is flawed. However, there is not a single other character in the book that is even the least bit interesting. The story was hard to get into in the beginning because of this. At 39% through the story the action picked up, which was when I was unable to put the book down.

The character writes beautifully and she describes the scenes perfectly. The writing itself is really great. I would have easily given it 5 stars if the action started a bit sooner and there was another interesting character.

Oh, I absolutely adored this one.

Little Thieves is a retelling of a German fairy tale I had to look up before reading: "The Goose Girl." Vanja -- the protagonist, and daughter of Death and Fortune -- has stolen an enchanted set of pearls from Princess Giesel and now masquerades as the princess, while the real Giesel has fled to the streets. With her newfound position, Vanja seeks to rob the nobles until she has enough wealth to be free and self-sufficient. However, when Vanja unwittingly steals a charm belonging to the low god Eiswald, she is cursed to slowly turn into gemstones until the full moon...unless she figures out a reversal. At the same time, her thieving antics are under investigation by a junior detective, meaning she has to come up with her biggest plan yet to save her own skin.

This was an incredible read. It was witty, clever, funny, and expertly paced. It took me a little bit of focus to get drawn in initially, but then I was sucked in for good. Vanja is gloriously imperfect and infuriating, while also being a character you can't help but root for. Additionally, I adored the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters, especially demisexuality and the easy acknowledgment of trans women. This novel hit every mark for me, and I am absolutely pre-ordering a physical copy for when it releases ASAP.

The cover of this book is what really drew me in. Then I read that it was inspired by fairytales and I was ready to read it. The main character was realatable and I like the conflict between the two gods and Vanja. There was a lot going on in this book and there were a lot of characters to keep track of. I kind of wished it had focused more on Vanja's plight and had a little less of the other subplots and their characters as I felt it detracted a little from Vanja's problem. I still did enjoy the book., and I think fans of Magaret Owen's other books as well as fans of fairytale retellings will enjoy this book.

A girl turning into jewels, a shapeshifting bestie, and a plot that keeps turning the screws? You had me at jewels! For a 500+ page fantasy book, I never felt as though the book was slow or dragging and that's mostly due to the characters. Vanja is selfish, conniving, and clever as all get out, and it's a joy to watch her struggle with her greed. Though rooted in German folklore, this was no fairytale. We're presented with moments of rape, abuse, and PTSD, but through a lens that doesn't mean to retraumatize the reader. There's so much care in the crafting of this story and it really shows. It's rare that I find a book where there's nothing I would change, but Little Thieves is it.

*Thank you to Henry, Holt & Co and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review*

This is a retelling of The Goose Girl, told from the point of view of anti-heroine Vanja. Vanja is a jewel thief and the adopted daughter of the gods Death and Fortune. She grows up as Princess Gisele’s servant but finds an opportunity to steal the Princess’s life and she takes it.

This was a magical read with lots of gripping action. I loved the storyline and was hooked from the start. There are so many twists and turns in this story! I loved the characters, both main and side and the creatures in this book. They were brilliant! I immediately felt connected to Vanja, I love a good anti-heroine. I cannot recommend this book enough if you are a fantasy, fairytales and magic lover.

LITTLE THIEVES is now one of my absolute favorite books of all time. As soon as I get paid again, I will be preordering it and waiting anxiously by my door for it. This Goose Girl retelling smacks of such originality despite it being an adaption of an old folk tale, that I almost didn't realize it until the very end where a specific detail from the story was revealed. Vanja, Emeric, Gisele, and Ragne are amazing characters that I am always rooting for, and I love the queer relationship that ensues. Please do yourself a favor - if you are reading this review right now, go over to your library's website or your local bookshop, and preorder it RIGHT NOW. You will not regret it.

Firstly, I must talk about the cover and how beautiful it is. I truly need to buy a physical copy to decorate my shelves with. But beyond that I love the story that the author creates. I think the premise and main character Vanja is just so interesting and so fun. I love this sort of selfish Robin Hood storyline. I think Vanja is smart, witty, albeit a tad morally grey. Her actions ultimately lead to her being punished for her greed. This causes a multitude of problems for Vanja that lead her to try to reverse how she wronged. I think that the world building in this story was brilliant. I will say that I found myself rooting solely for Vanja, and a bit annoyed with how often she found herself being given what seemed to be the toughest possible option. I didn't really care for the other characters, and did feel like the pacing slowed down a bit towards the end, but all in all I think that this story was addicting, adventurous, and so magical. I think it truly had a little bit of everything.

Thank you so much for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Wow hi hello I loved this book so much. The feeling I got from it was pretty similar to the anime Violet Evergarden in terms of the world. The writing and world building were fantastic, you get this sense of just stepping in to a fairy tale.

After reading Margaret Owen's debut duology (The Merciful Crow and The Faithless Hawk), Little Thieves was one of my most anticipated, and it delivered. I loved this book even more than the duology, as Vanja, the main character, quickly became one of my favorite main characters I've read.

Vanja is funny, snarky, conniving, and her voice makes this tale so entertaining from start to finish. She has a soul for larceny but at the same time, deep down, she's a lonely, scared, angry young woman and I would die for her.

Vanja possesses magic pearls, which allow her to wear the face of Princess Gisele, who she formerly served as a maid and from whom she took everything. For a year, Vanja has been wearing this false face, living a life of luxury, engaged to a Margrave...but at times she transforms back into herself to steal riches from the empire's most wealthy to buy herself an escape from her godmothers - Death and Fortune (yes, literally Death and Fortune, after she was given away by her own birth mother because of her bad luck). One night, she steals from the wrong person and angers one of the gods, who curses her for her greed as Vanja slowly turns into the things she desired most: jewels. Vanja must figure out how to break her curse, escape capture for her thievery while being chased by a young detective, and figure out why her (Gisele's) fiance wants her dead.

There were a few moments later on in this story where things got a little cheesy, but overall I really loved this one, mainly because Vanja is such a great character. The world is based somewhat on Germanic folklore which was itself interesting. There's mystery, political intrigue, magic, and a delicious cat-and-mouse game between Vanja and Emeric, the detective on her trail.

I loved Vanja and Emeric's development in particular and for me, they carry this book. The way Vanja describes Emeric at various points throughout the book is truly a gem: "All that time I spent stressing over the looming threat of this day-old breadstick with a thirst for justice..." "but I'll be a stone-cold corpse before I concede a point to a sentient fireplace poker with an undeservedly high opinion of itself." "You would think the most formidable thing in Castle Reigenbach wouldn't be a reedy law library incarnate..." And there are so many others but I don't want to give too much away here.

This is the story of a young girl sold to two Gods at the age of 4. She is then sold to a royal family as a servant to the princess. Until the age of 16 she tricks the princess and takes over her life. The author has a unique way of telling this story. It's broken into separate stories with different takes on how she got to where she is currently. I found it enchanting and fun to read. (less)

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Why yes, I do love a good fairy tale retelling! Little Thieves was no exception.

Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, is a sassy and wicked and absolutely lovable antiheroine. However, as much as Vanja likes to think that Death and Fortune care for her as their daughter, she discovers that they are forcing her to choose between the two: who will she serve for the rest of her life? Faced with this decision, she steals the identity of Princess Gisele, and masquerades as the thief Pfennigeist in order to line her own purse so she can live the life she desires. Soon, her thieving ways catch up with her and she finds herself with only 2 weeks to break the curse set on her before she turns into jewels forever.

Very fun, very snarky, a twisty fairy tale with a pretty obvious villain and enemies-to-lovers romance, this will be a welcome addition to my school library.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!