I have really mixed feelings on this one, and things will get mildly spoiler-y be low:

This book starts off following the jewel thief Vanja - once maid to the Princess Gisele, she has now become the Princess herself by wearing a magical pearl necklace that alters her appearance. Vanja is using her new found freedom as the Princess by robbing the nobility blind so that she can save up enough money to escape the kingdom and the low gods who pass judgement (including her godmothers Fortune and Death, who are demanding she server one of them). On what is supposed to be Vanja’s last heist before she is truly free, she crosses the god of the forest and is cursed for her greed: she will slowly turn into diamonds unless she can make up for her past wrongs before the next full moon. Obviously this throws all of Vanja’s plans out the window. On top of this a Prefect of the old gods has been called to investigate the string of robberies against the nobility. Did I mention that Vanja has no real companions she can confide in, and that the Princess’s betrothed Margrave Adalbrecht is abusive, insane and on his way back to the castle?

I honestly should have loved this, the world building and lore were AMAZING. I also loved the MC Vanja, she was funny and smart and clever. However, I didn’t really like any of the other characters and thought Princess Gisele got off way to easy. I also didn’t like how Gisele and some of the other characters treated Vanja. Like after everything that Vanja went through its pretty obvious that anyone with enough courage/nerve would have done what she did?
I honestly think a lot of this could have been solved with the introduction of another maid who was in the loop on Vanja's heists or at least someone who supported her. Vanja just got the short end of the stick WAYY too much in this book, and it got old after a while.
I did like the character Ragne- daughter of the forest god, but she also feel under Gisele’s “charm” and I would have preferred to see Vanja and Ragne become closer friends or even lovers :: shrugs :: Which leaves me with the Prefect Emeric Conrad, was I supposed to like him? I was almost warming up to him up until a certain conflict towards the end of the book. I think it went too far, and was surprised that Vanja forgave him.

Due to these events unfurling I went from lovvvving the first half of this book to forcing myself to finish the second half. I’m still interested in reading more books by this author and think this story was written really well, I just wasn’t a fan of the character development towards the end. You could say this one just wasn’t my cup of tea, but I think other readers would def enjoy it.

Thanks to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This is a contemporary version of The Goose Girl which I can't say I'm familiar with, however I really enjoyed the stories and the characters. I'm typically not a huge fan of Science fiction/fantasy, but I was able to immerse myself in the story with no problem. This is my first book by Margaret Owen but it won't be my last!

When it comes to books I loved, I have a hard time putting my thoughts into coherent words. You see, ignoring the fact that there's so much inner squeeing is a difficult thing to do. Alas, I will try my best. After adoring Owen's previous duology, I was thrilled when I found out she was writing a new fantasy, a twisted version of "The Goose Girl." I was even more excited when I was approved for an arc. And it is with great pleasure that I give this book 5 stars.

But, hear me out, while I loved the book, the beginning was a little hard to get into. At times, it felt like readers were just thrown into this fantasy world and expected to find our way around. It did take a little while, but eventually that feeling dissipated, and instead I found myself enchanted by the German-influenced world, full of monsters and mysteries of old folklore.

The best part of this book is the characters. We're introduced to a slew of them, and yet many of the main cast have well-rounded personalities and backgrounds. The primary story point, though, is Vanja's incredible character arc. I felt so connected to these characters that my emotions were swayed by their plights. I was so absorbed within this book that the real world faded into the background, and if that's not the mark of a good book, then I don't know what is.

Once again, Owen has hit the ball out of the park. This dark tale was told with a hint of humor and a spark of romance, and I was sad to see it over. This is a book to put at the top of your TBR!

TW: mental, physical, and emotional abuse

Review published to Goodreads July 27, 2021.

Little Thieves is a wonderful book based on a rich tapestry of folklore interwoven with cunning adventure and clever dialogue. Vanja is a wonderfully drawn, three-dimensional character with such wonderful connections to both the human world and the supernatural one. This is a great addition to the fantasy and folklore genre.

I LOVED this book. Vanja's story was unique, tragic, exciting, fun, magical, and heartbreaking all at the same time. I laughed at loud at her cleverness and snark, and cried as she struggled with the damage and repercussions of her traumas. While some points were predictable, or at least easy to see coming, the story still felt fresh and new, and more often than not the novelty of the world kept me interested and engaged at their realities and how they mirror, or don't, our own. What is on the surface level an adventure heist story, at it's core is really a story about acceptance, forgiveness, and healing. I just really really loved it.

Language: Mild (German swear words, easily translated)
Drugs: Moderate (alcohol, opioids, other substances)
Sex: Mild (kissing, innuendos, homosexuality)
Violence: Moderate (discussions of violence; sexual harassment and attempted assault; mental, physical, and emotional abuse)

Little Thieves is supposed to be a Goose Girl retelling, but while the elements may have been there, they weren’t crafted well into the story. Our main character is Vanja, the princess imposter. She is a thief, vindictive, and unrepentant. Readers probably won’t sympathize with her because even though she is just trying to survive, she is a remarkably unlikable character. That aspect rings true to the tale but makes Vanja a strange choice of protagonist.

The real princess—not working in the palace and having nothing to do with geese—is justifiably angry when readers meet her, but she isn’t terribly lovable either. She did have a horse called Falada who is dead, but readers don’t learn this until the later half of the book. The death barrel of nails makes an appearance, but all told, I wouldn’t relate this to Goose Girl.

Vanja’s thefts are masterfully thought out and the Little Thieves overall plot is okay, but the beginning is slow to grab readers. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading it, but I won’t be recommending this one.

"Little Thieves" protagonist and cast of characters are never boring. The challenge was keeping up with everything that was going on in the story. So much desperation and intrigue, danger and daring, all wrapped up in one young woman's decision to make her own way in the world and out from under her godmothers' control. You'll never look at pearl necklaces the same, but you may wish you had one.

I didn't know what to expect going into this book since it isn't what I usually read, but I loved Owens 'Merciful Crows' so I thought I'd give it a chance and I'm so glad I did. I just love Owens writing and I completely got lost in this story. I loved the characters and their journeys.

I thought this was a vast improvement over the original fairy tale, and I enjoyed the mythology, the heists, and all the rest of the aspects of this novel that were completely new.

Little thieves review

We get the story of Vanja, the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, and her group of swindlers/thieves set in the world of folklores and storybooks stories. It’s in 3 parts. Vanja ends up angering the wrong God and now must pay the price.

While the Conception was very cool and original it was very slow and hard to get into. Maybe it’s because there are a ton of characters at the beginning, maybe it’s because we never really get a description of Vanja’s life with Death and Fortune, maybe it’s because with 3 parts/stories I just wanted more, I’m not sure. It just didn’t hold my attention. This was an arc though so hopefully this has been tweaked some before it’s October debut. About 1/2 way through it picks up some. The world building and magical system was fantastic though!! Vanja is very relatable as a character and you get to see her growth as the story progresses which is something I always enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

— Staci McIntyrE

I love a good retelling and I love Margaret Owen’s books so this one was a must read for me! I loved how complex the anti heroine Vanja was, and the chaotic way she moved through the challenges ahead of her. I felt like the villain was a little too evil to be believably evil and wish there had been some complexity there and the end wrapped up a bit neatly, but this was a great story filled with a fantastic cast of side characters that I grew attached to very quickly. I will definitely add this to my shelves for a reread!

i love this book SO MUCH. the characters and the world felt so rich to me. i love everything that margaret writes, just the way you get sucked into the world and the characters are relatable, interesting, and have so many layers. i can’t wait for the next release!

Love, love, LOVE!! I loved the dynamic of the characters and the mannerisms of each one. This was such a wonderful book to read and I’m glad it seems like it can be a stand-alone, but now I need to go read her other series!

*Trigger warnings: discussions of child abuse, abusive environments, and trauma from a past attempted assault.*

“Once upon a time, there was a girl as cunning as the fox in winter, as hungry as the wolf at first frost, and cold as the icy wind that kept them at each other’s throats.”

Vanja is a girl who was given up by her mother to the gods Death and Fortune who have raised her as their own daughter. However, everything comes with a price and now that she is 16 she has only until her 17th birthday to decide which mother she will choose to serve in return for them raising and loving her. Vanja doesn’t want to serve them, she wants to be a daughter not a servant. Vanja decides that the only solution is to raise enough money to run far away from her mothers and live out the rest of her life... and has turned to a life of thieving from the rich aristocrats while pretending to be a princess ( she secretly stole the identity and life of a princess she once served and is using said princess’s magical pearl necklace that essentially just transforms her into a beauty). On one of her jewel heists, she accidentally steals a token from a god and is cursed with only 2 weeks to figure out how to undo it or die. The curse: her body starts turning into jewels, stone by stone, to reflect her greed and she must find a way to pay back her greed or die as a pile of jewels. Vanja must figure out how to break the curse and on top of that a investigative junior detective is on her trail (her secret identity as a jewel thief) and the princess’s fiancee a man twice her age who is power hungry and abusive has come back in town and is over eager to fast track the marriage. From the beginning of the story it is established that Vanja is not a good person, everything she does, she does for herself and that she is a morally grey character. There were a lot of plot arcs (detective plot, princess marriage plot, god-mothers plot, etc) going on in this story and Vanja isn’t exactly the most likable protagonist (which is odd for me since I generally adore morally grey protagonist but I just couldn’t like Vanja that much, she’s even a jewel thief which would generally makes her more likable in my eyes, and yet I just didn’t like her as much as I had hoped). The story felt like it was dragging on for a bit and by the halfway point I just wasn’t as invested in the characters or the story as I would have hoped. It started off great but lost me along the way. Theres a bit of romance, and my favorite character would have to be the daughter of one of the gods who is a shapeshifter, Ragne (she was just the best part of the book for me).

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book--wow.

Vanja Schmidt was given to Death and Fortune (low gods) at four years old because her mother believed her to be bad luck and she could not afford another child (she had 12 others). Death and Fortune raised her as their own child until she reached an age that she could not be in the God realm anymore. At that time, they brought her to serve a princess. She became Princess Gisele’s maid and serves her until an opportunity arose to steal herself the life that she always wanted.

I loved reading about how the Little Gods influence everyone's lives in the book and the Prefects that maintain order in this realm of magic users. Vanja's journey is riveting and I can't wait to pick up the physical copy. This is a great book for fans of Six of Crows.

This was interesting. Sometimes the dialogue was modern in a way that was incongruous with the mood of the story, and that made me conscious that I was reading a story, so I never felt lost in the world.

This book was great and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book. It had a great storyline and characters.

I love this book. So much.
Little Thieves is bitter and sweet and sad and happy and wholesome and frustrating and thrilling and basically what I'm saying is that I ran the gamut of emotions with this book. I tend to feel weird giving reviews for books I LOVE because I so enjoy going into a good book completely blind and I don't want to give anyone else hints of what they might see, but rest assured this book is everything. Beautiful writing, a variety of characters, plot twists and turns, GROWTH, and magic. What more could I ask for?
I cannot wait for the official release in October so I can physically hold this book in my hands, because I know this is one I'll come back to more than once.

This was an interesting tale with some fun characters. Unfortunately I do not know the original tale, so I can’t make any comparisons there. Also, the romance was cute and I enjoyed it!
The only things that bothered me were:
1. the uses of breaking the fourth wall. While it didn’t happen too terribly often, it brought me out of the story when it did.
2. While I love the use of other languages, there were so many terms in such a short amount of time that it was difficult for me to understand and become invested in what was going on.

If you like sassy, morally grey thieves, enemies-to-lovers romances, and folklore, this might be a story for you.

Little Thieves was such a wonderful retelling! It didn't follow the story of the ugly duckling exactly, but Margaret Owen's storytelling made up for it. It follows Vanja, unlucky thirteenth daughter and stepdaughter to Fortune and Death. She lived as a maid for years before swapping with princess Gisele using magical pearls. The main plot is her trying to leave the land of the gods and figure out her relationship with others as she doesn't really trust anyone.
Vanja herself is a mix between the hilarious, strong heroine and a hurt girl who needed help and support but pushes everyone away. She's witty and cruel but also has some sense of morals. She grows quite a bit through the book to begin to trust others but it wasn't without trouble. The book turns into a motley heist crew and I definitely don't mind everyone else joining in. Emeric was such a cute romance option, though I do have to dock points since he doesn't like horses. Even her friendships were such a fun thing as she slowly lost that toxic independence and began to work through past fights and traumas.

The storytelling that Owen creates is the best thing. The way Vanja tells her own story sucks you in so much with a mix of her POV and her storytelling that I couldn't put the book once I started. I knew it was going to give me such a reading slump afterwards!

This is definitely something you don't want to miss.