This is a retelling of the fairy tale, Goose Girl. Vanja Schmidt is the goddaughter of Death and Fortune. She was abandoned by her birth mother at the age of 4. Her birth mother said she was unlucky as she was the thirteenth daughter of a thirteenth daughter. When she was seven she was given to a noble family as a servant. They were cruel and abusive, but Vanja became close to their daughter Princess Gisele until Gisele also betrayed the protagonist. The story begins one year after Vanja steals some enchanted pearls from her mistress Gisele and begins assuming her life. The pearls change the wearer’s appearance to a beautiful young woman. Gisele is engaged to a cruel man named Adalbrecht von Reigenbach, margrave of Bóern. Vanja has been impersonating Gisele in the city of Minkja while her fiance is on the battlefront fighting a long war. She has become a thief the locals have named The Pfennigeist. Vanja is trying to save enough money to escape Minkja before the marriage to Adalbrecht can happen. A young Junior Prefect in the Order of Godly Prefects is assigned to catch the Pfennigeist, just as Aldalbrecht comes home to marry "Gisele". Vanja is cursed by a lower god after thieving at a house party in the country. She has two weeks to "give back what she took" or she will be turned into jewels. Vanja races against the clock trying to figure out how to make amends to the people she has stolen from and each misstep she finds a new jewel on her body. Will she be able to make amends with Princess Gisele after stealing her identity and throwing her out in the cold? Will she be able to evade the Junior Prefect? What exactly is the sinister Aldabrecht up to?

I loved the cover of this book. It is really beautiful and is what drew me to the story. I will say that I didn’t like the MC until about 30% through the book. She was unapologetically rude, brash, and overall horrid. Once you learn her backstory you begin to empathize with her and I did end up liking her and the story, but I thought she was pretty awful in the beginning. I love the camaraderie that Vanja and her gang of misfits had in the second half of the book, even though Vanja was still maddening at times. The book is a fantasy setting but has a German feel to it. All locations are made up, but I imagined it took place in a German type city because of the word choices. I felt the set up to the story was kind of slow, but it picked up about 30/40% and then it was a wild and quick read. I felt the ending made up for the slow start. Very much enjoyed! Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Dark Fairy Tale retelling with lots of intrigue, intensity, and imagination..not to mention plenty of sarcasm and a whole lot of heart. This is my first Margaret Owen book, and after finishing it I immediately ordered her Merciful Crow books. Her writing style, voice and imagination made this an absolute delight to read (but also surprisingly touching). This was the golden combo: great writing combined with on point entertaining story-telling (with plenty of imagination and great world building). **Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt for my eARC in exchange for my honest review!**

Its got the kind of fast paced intrigue-y plot that features lots of deception and sneakiness that will appeal to fans of Six of Crows, but also some of the dark beauty and wintery fairy tale vibes of Arden's Winternight Trilogy, along with the creative magic and endearing romance of Margaret Rogerson's books, plus the wit and snark of Novik's Scholomance series.

The Setup:
"Considering I now have two weeks to amass a fortune, escape one of the most powerful men in the Blessed Empire of Almandy, and evade the highly trained criminal hunter headed my way, all the while slowly turning into precious stones, I absolutely do not have it under control. But I'm not going to tell my godmothers that."

I wasn't sure how much I was going to like the main character Vanja (from the setup we know she's been a bad girl and is cursed because of it), but Owen does a good job of slowly winding in the backstory that gives us more of the Why and How she came to be in her current situation, and then allowing her to make new and different choices going forward. I ended up really liking her, in spite of all her faults, The secondary characters were also really well. done, Emeric, our Junior Prefect/unassuming "hunter" is a new favorite (her descriptions of him are GREAT), along with Ragne who is possibly one of my most favorite "animal familiars" ever. I actually warmed up to Giselle too, which I was not expecting. In terms of villains, Adalbrecht von Reigenbach was a perfectly creepy shadow over the first half, and even more creeptastic when we finally got to meet him in person (my only complaint on him, was in the finale, I felt he was defeated a little too easily), but still a great mix of mad magician and political intrigue bad guy:
"You see, Adalbrecht von Reigenbach doesn't walk into a castle. He makes landfall. People send warning ahead when they see him bearing down on the horizon, and you can't figure out why the world suddenly seems so quiet, until you realize every creature with sense has gone into hiding."

The enemies to lovers vibes of what was a rather endearing romance, was the perfect setup for me to love both Vanja and Emeric, her growing feelings and internal monologues/descriptions of him were just so great:
"He looks like he wants to kiss me. And a little like he wants to strangle me. We are meant for each other."
Owen did a great job of allowing their feelings towards one another to change and develop while still allowing them to maintain most of their original motivations (along with both of their very stubborn personalities) which lead to plenty of internal struggles for both of them:
"But Emeric isn't the same. I want to think of another puzzle he can't solve. I want to empty his pockets and get caught in the act. I want the simple peace of being known by him; I want this strange, terrible hope he's given me, that I could build a life where I choose, instead of living ready to leave everything behind. I don't know what's worse: that he's slipped into my heart like a knife, or that I like the feel of him there."

Final Verdict: Highly recommended to both Teens and Adult readers, and for fans of not only fantasy, but historical fiction as well. Definitely recommend to fans of Naomi Novik, along with Katherine Arden, Margaret Rogerson, and Leigh Bardugo.

Thank you to Fierce Reads and YALLwest for an ARC of this title.

Vanja Schmidt is the thirteenth daughter of a thirteenth daughter, which portends bad luck. Abandoned by her mother, she grows up as the adopted daughter of Fortune and Death. Forced to choose to serve of the two gods, she decides to raise enough money to leave the kingdom and strike out on her own, far away from the reach of her mothers. Unfortunately, she feels the only option left to her is to be a thief. Enchanted pearls turn her into Princess Gisele, a girl who she thought was her friend growing up, but she learned the hard way that she was only thought of as a maid.

This is the first book I've read by Margaret Owen. She writes well, but I think the beginning dragged and it took me a long time to get into the storyline. It sounds like it's based on a fairy tale, but I am unfamiliar with it, so I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters. It did pick up for me, and I was interested in seeing what happened next.

I did end up enjoying it - it was a long read though, so be prepared!

Little Thieves is a retelling of the German fairytale, “The Goose Girl”. It’s centered around Vanja, a maid and a thief, who forcefully takes the place of Princess Gisele. Vanja is cursed by the Lady of the Forest, Eiswald, for stealing from her people. However, Princess Gisele is betrothed to Adalbrecht, a filthy politician who is trying to kill her. With the help of her new friends Ragne (daughter of Eiswald) and Emeric Conrad (an “annoying” JuniorPrefect who is investigating a related case), Vanja must return what she has stolen while saving herself from Adalbrecht.
I really enjoyed this book! The Goose Girl is a special fairytale for me because I used to read it all the time when I was younger, so I was super excited when I received the ARC for this book. One thing I noticed while reading this book was the humor. It’s obvious when authors try to be funny in their writing and it doesn’t always work but I’m glad it did in this book! The main character was hilarious and so were her conversations with Emeric and Ragne. I enjoyed the writing too. It was very detailed in a way that really helped me understand Vanja’s character and it made me feel like I was Vanja, going through the same emotions she was. It was interesting reading the “villain’s” point of view of the fairytale. I love Vanja’s character development because it started out subtle but as the book progressed, she started changing for the better. I also like how Vanja isn’t a good person because she has questionable morals. She’s selfish and greedy but her actions are justified because she had to protect herself. Even with the character development, she is a morally grey character with flaws. Oftentimes authors will write character development and completely change their character to be the opposite of who they once were and I think that is unrealistic because no person can be 100% perfect or good. Luckily, Margaret Owen did not do that. Lastly, the romance was one of the best parts of this book. I was worried that it would be too rushed but it was the complete opposite! And it was enemies to lovers, which makes it even better. Emeric and Vanja are opposites but they balance each other out and their bickering was hilarious. Also, I think it’s adorable how they learned things from each other. Emeric learned to be brave like Vanja and Vanja learned to be selfless like Emeric. Their relationship developed slowly as they both discovered exactly what they wanted from each other. The friendships in this book were also adorable (Gisele, Joniza, Ragne, Barthl, etc.).
Although the events of the first half of the book were important, it was a little boring and slow, but it really picked up in the second half. I think the ending could have been more detailed because it seemed rushed. But overall, the ending was satisfying.
If you are a fan of enemies to lovers, cute friendships and romances, morally grey characters, thieves and heists, curses, humor, and fairytale retellings, this book is definitely for you! I am so excited for the official release of the book and I am willing to reread it once it comes out in October. Overall, I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This was a deeply satisfying fairy-tale retelling. Margaret Owen takes the bones of the Goose Girl story and transforms it into a magical tale about an unlikable heroine and the circumstances that sent her down a wicked path. Her world-building is spellbinding, but doesn't overwhelm the plot of this standalone novel; it adds enough detail to flesh it out without resorting to long passages of information and makes the story unique and compelling. Overall, this is a wonderful successor to Owen's "The Merciful Crow" series and I cannot wait to read what she writes next!

Little Thieves was graciously provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel follows Vanja. Vanja is the 13th daughter of a 13th daughter, which her mother decides means that she is cursed. So her mother goes deep into the forest and gives Vanja to the Low Gods of Fortune and Death.

We fast-forward more than a decade and see Vanja as a princess. She has become a princess through stealing enchanted pearls that belong to the real princess. Vanja angers a Low God and is cursed with becoming the personification of greed. She develops a skin condition where rare gems begin showing up on her body and cannot be removed. The rest of the novel follows Vanja as she tries to reverse the curse.

Whew! That was a long intro for me. Usually I like to write a teaser of a few sentences, so I don’t give too much away. That should give you some idea of the scope and depth of this book. There is so much backstory and character building in this novel, that it’s impossible for me to explain succinctly.

I think the attention to world building and character development is the best part of this novel. There were words scattered throughout that I did not know. To me, they looked German but the Kindle translation tool thought a few of them were Swedish. I feel if I had known the language, it would have enhanced my enjoyment of the novel to give me hints about the nature of these things,

Overall, Little Thieves was a very enjoyable novel that I would recommend to a friend. 4.5/5

I loved the direction this took from the original myth of the Goose Girl and how it centers the story of the maid who took power. Vanja is ready to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. She may seem ruthless but only because they made her this way. I also loved the way that this book explored how trauma affects us all in different ways. My favorite thing about this story was the banter and the way the relationship grew between the live interests. This book is about forming different types of relationships with people and what it means to have a support system.

Little Thieves - Release date 10/05/21

This is the first book I've given ✨5/5✨ this year.

I was provided an ARC from @macmillanusa in exchange for an honest review! Thank you so much!

Wow. This plot was great, but the best part was the character development.

Vanja is one of the most complex, complicated characters I've ever read and she has so many human aspects to her. She's not some great hero but rather a girl trying to survive and I really related to that. She's clever, funny, and cut throat.

I want more of this world and Vanja. I hope this becomes a series. Definitely pick this book up.

P.S. it's enemies to lovers 😉

Once upon a time...there was a little girl named Vanja. One snowy winter night, Vanja’s mother takes her to a crossroads deep in the woods and abandons her to Death and Fortune. Not metaphorical death and fortune, but the actual gods Death and Fortune, who take four-year-old Vanja in and make her their goddaughter.

Thirteen years later, the glamorous Gisele-Berthilda Ludwila von Falbirg, princess of Sovabin, fiancé to the Margrave Adalbrecht von Reigenbach of Bóern, is attending a party thrown by the count and countess von Eisendorf. The princess has a little too much Glöhwein so the countess von Eisendorf offers the use of one of her guest parlors to the Prinzessin, so she can, you know, have a lie-down and sober up a little before dinner. And thus, the drunken princess is left alone with only her loyal maid Greta to attend to her.

Or so it would seem.

Because no one in their right mind would guess that the princess, as soon as she’s alone, would take off her pearls (a lady is never seen without her pearls) and transform into someone completely different. Namely, Vanja Schmidt, goddaughter of Death and Fortune.

Because this, good people, is a heist.

See, after living for a while with Death and Fortune, Vanja became a servant in Castle Falbirg. After toiling for several years as a maid-of-all-work, Vanja became the lady’s maid to the real Princess Gisele-you-get-the-idea von Falbirg. The girls spent practically every day together. They became best friends - until the rest of the world made it painfully clear that one of them is a princess, and the other a servant, and, in this world, only one of those has value.

So, last year when Gisele was sent off to Bóern to eventually be married to the Margrave, Vanja saw an opportunity and took it: she stole Gisele’s appearance-altering pearls, assuming the identity of the Princess von Falbirg, leaving her former BFF penniless and alone.

Sound familiar, Brothers Grimm fans?

But Vanja-as-Gisele hasn’t just been living the high life while her fiancé is off fighting wars and shit - no, she’s been stealing from the rich and - sorry, there’s no and. Vanja is stealing from the rich and keeping it for herself because she needs the money. See: Vanja doesn’t want to actually marry the godawful Adalbrecht and be a Margravine, God, no. Once she’s saved enough money fencing her stolen goods, Vanja plans on getting the hell out of the Empire of Almandy, and going somewhere where she can live far, far, far away from the influence of her Godmothers. She almost has enough saved - stealing from the rich has been easy, after all, who among them would suspect a princess of being the notorious jewel thief known as the Pfennigeist?

While the princess is trying to sober up, her maid, Greta (Vanja herself, dressed as a servant, sans-enchanted pearls) pulls off yet another successful heist, emptying the Countess von Eisendorf’s jewelry box. Just as “Princess Gisele” returns to the party, the jewels safely stashed in her carriage, two massive wrenches are thrown into Vanja’s plans:

1) It’s suddenly announced that Adalbrecht von Reigenbach is on his way back from the warfront, eager to finally marry his fiancé,

And!

2) A prefect from the Godly Courts (basically this world’s equivalent of a detective) has been dispatched to locate and apprehend the Pfennigeist.

Both of these are bad. Really bad. But Vanja’s life motto is, and always has been: don’t panic. She can manage both of these situations. Really, she can! Adalbrecht is the absolute worst, - a grade A chauvinist pig - but she can manage him by playing the part of the empty-headed princess, playing to his ego while making herself seem harmless. And the prefect - sorry, junior prefect sent by the Godly Courts, Emeric Conrad? He’s a human bean-pole in an ill-fitting uniform, in way over his head, easily riled and completely flustered whenever he’s in Gisele’s presence. Vanja doesn’t need to worry about him.

Does she?

But then, just as she’s left the Eisendorf’s with her stolen jewels, Vanja runs into the biggest wrench in her plan: Eiswald, the low god who oversees the land on whom the Eisendorf’s castle sits. Furious that someone would dare steal in her domain, Eiswald curses Vanja: unless she makes up for all that she has stolen by the next full moon, Vanja will become her greed. Her body will slowly calcify into a bunch of rubies and pearls - starting with a ruby teardrop Vanja’s face.

Yikes.

To make sure Vanja doesn’t try to wriggle out of her curse, Eiswald sends her shapeshifting, half-human daughter Ragne to monitor Vanja’s progress. Ragne isn’t quite used to being human all the time, and she often gets confused by human things like wearing clothes and sitting normally in chairs, but she takes her job to watch Vanja very seriously. Because the clock is ticking, and Vanja’s curse will come to an end, one way or another. But Vanja doesn’t quite understand how she’s supposed to break the curse - how exactly is she supposed to make up for everything she’s taken? And how is she supposed to do it with a relentless prefect (ahem, junior prefect) hot on her heels and a fiancé who is clearly up to something sinister?

Well, first thing’s first:

Have you ever encountered a book that just feels like it was written for you, specifically? Like, it checks all of your own personal boxes when it comes to story, setting, characters, and, well, everything?

Yeah, Little Thieves felt like that to me. I loved every moment of it. I loved that the whole novel was a retelling of The Goose Girl but from the perspective of the “wicked” maid. And, most of all, I loved the character of Conrad, the collection of billiard cues that unionized to solve crime. I loved Ragne and her aversion to clothes and chairs and how if you threaten her or her friends she will turn into a bear and claw you. I absolutely loved Vanja as a character - she is a hilarious and wildly entertaining narrator, but she is also very, very unaware of her own blind spots. She’s so convinced that she is always, always right that she doesn’t even begin to consider that she might, maybe, possibly be just a little tiny bit wrong about certain things until its almost too late. And it’s not like she believes she’s right for no reason - Vanja has learned certain truths the hard way, but, as we all do, we learn that those truths aren’t always universal. Like how, sometimes, it’s OK to panic. Or need help. Or accept that you’ve made mistakes and apologize. Vanja may come off as abrasive at first, but watching her as she transforms from petty criminal to hero is an absolute joy.

I also loved all the references to German language, mythology and culture that permeate the book - especially Owen’s inclusion of some of the more, uh, let’s say... interesting aspects of German cuisine (Weißwurst??? Blegh! Euch, of course Adalbrecht likes Weißwurst). And, if you, like me, spent over fifteen grueling years painstakingly learning the language of your ancestors only to be told your accent sounds ridiculous, then you, too will love all of the German-language easter eggs sprinkled throughout Little Thieves. Seriously, the language nerd was positively giddy the whole time. Speaking of which, perhaps my favorite part of the whole novel was the relationship between Vanja and Conrad. Though it takes Vanja some time to realize it, there is way more to Conrad than the nervous, easily embarrassed rookie detective. In fact, Conrad might be the first person ever to cut straight through Vanja’s bravado and see her for who she truly is and, honestly, I just love the two of them so much.

Seriously, if you take anything away from this review, it’s to pre-order Little Thieves.

*Thank you Netgalley for an ARC of Little Thieves*
Where to begin reviewing this book? I have so many thoughts and feelings after reading Little Thieves. I was intrigued from the very beginning. As in from the Author's Notes! I was so impressed by the way Owens prefaced this story. "This is a story about many things, beautiful and ugly, painful and true. They're are discussions of child abuse and neglect, navigating abusive environments, and trauma from a past attempted assault. For many of us, these are wounds, and I have tried to give them air here without tearing at the hard-won stitches. Still, I trust you to know your scars." Let me just say this one paragraph resonated with me on such a true level. I love that we, as readers and trauma survivors, were recognized and acknowledged as well as given the space to decide if we wanted to continue. This alone earned so much respect for the author from me. I was in love with Owens before even reading the first page. Now to review the actual book. I loved Little Thieves. I really, truly did. I love the telling from Vanja's POV. Even down to the sarcastic little additions, almost like she was talking to the readers directly, or even inner mumblings to herself. I think she was witty, charming (in a sardonic, pithy kind of way) and so very relatable. Even though I have never lived during this time period with these types of events, I felt a connection to her. I love how i fell for the "bad guy"and the shifting of allegiance. The imagery was fantastic. The world building was... adequate. My main mark against this book was the constant use of German terms. I was so lost at times as to what was being written about. I am usually able to infer definitions based on context but was unable to do so in this story. I feel like the terms were overused and almost flaunted, especially to someone like myself w/zero background. This made it difficult to get into for the first half of the book. I struggled to keep reading. Then, once I reached the meat of the story, holy cow, was I in for a ride! Once I made it to the halfway point, I couldn't stop! The story exploded into something I couldn't put down! I give this book 4.5 stars. I loved everything else about it.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan children’s publishing group for providing me with a man e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is hard to describe but was enjoyable. There is a lot going on but it’s not a bad thing. The first 100-150 pages were slightly hard to get through for me. It felt a little bit like a info dump and all of the names and places were hard for me to understand and keep straight. I am not German and am not well versed in German words. So I completely understand a lot of the names and places could or would make total sense to others. But personally it muddled the beginning of the story a bit for me. After Vanja is cursed the story picks up and I didn’t want to stop reading it. Vanja’s character is refreshing. I love the premise of a morally grey thief and a liar who is pretending to be the princess while stealing from the rich. The concept of the low gods and death and fortune being her godmothers was really fun for me. I loved the growth of Vanja throughout the book. I also very much enjoyed her enemies to lovers type romance with her love interest. Their relationship felt so natural. I also really appreciated her friendships that she made and kept. I loved Ragne I think everyone needs a Ragne in their life. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

This was the first book I’ve fallen totally in love with for quite a while! The pacing is fast and there’s always a lot going on, but in the best way. At the beginning, Vanja plays three different roles: the princess, the maid, and the thief. I loved watching her figure out who she really is and wants to be throughout the course of the story. It was great to have a main character who is cunning and witty. From the outside, you would think her flaws would make her unbearable, but I actually found that they made me root for her even more.

Found family is one of my favorite tropes and if there is anyone who deserves a found family, it is Vanja. The side characters in this book are great, especially Emeric and Ragne. It’s impressive how the author balanced the character development, the fast, full plot, and the world building. On top of all of that, this book is funny! I think this is the most I’ve laughed reading a YA fantasy.

I wouldn’t change a thing about this book and will definitely be recommending it!

This review will be posted publicly closer to the release date.

For those who have read other works by Margaret Owen, Little Thieves is a solid read albeit less engaging than previous books. With beautifully written details and descriptions, the story is a cross between a bedtime story and a cautionary tale. With a difficult main character and supporting characters who were multi-dimensional but rather unlikeable, this reader had difficulty embracing the story as a whole. For those who appreciate their fairy-tales with a macabre twist, this is an excellent choice.

The premise is interesting and different. We will definitely purchase copies for our libraries. I did not finish the book, but I can see how the right reader will really get into it. It is solid 4 or 5 stars should it continue the way it’s going.

I keep wavering between 3 and 4 stars for this. I think ultimately the 4 is correct and I am not giving it enough credit for how much I enjoyed it. It's very funny, it's compelling, I was invested, etc. However, it is MUCH longer than I anticipated it being and there were several instances where I thought we were getting ready to wrap things up, only to glance down and see that I was only 60% through. Anyway, it's a great standalone and is Owen's first book since the Merciful Crow duology, which is probably why I am judging this one a little harsher because those were incredible. Still highly recommend for YA fantasy lovers! It will go over well all these new Six of Crows fans I think.

I would first like to thank NetGalley for letting me read this ahead of publishing.
**this part of the feedback will not be in my GR review.
I love the premise of the book, I haven’t read from Margaret before but i really enjoyed her style of the main character’s train of thoughts. Now with that said, is there a German interpreter for this book? I live in Germany and have been to plenty of Christmas markets to know how to spell glühwein. This book has German written all over it and yet the words are not exactly correct. The curse word for one is not spelled right, if you google that word letter for letter it doesn’t show up on google. It should be scheisse not Scheitze. It would be pronounced almost the same but the audience doesn’t know better and think that’s the actual way to write it. I think a in the front of the book have a translation for all the titles that stay German have a English translation, like Gräfin, kör-princepz etc. and red is Röt not Röd , its fine if it’s made up but in the description it is said to be of German origin.
My last constructive criticism, i swear! Is the lovely side storytelling chapters. I love the content in them but it is strictly 3rd person view and should stay that way but every last 2 paragraphs switch back to 1st person and its a bit jarring. I think it should stay 3rd person since Vanja doesn’t do that except in the chapters about the maid and the princess. i think it can be done perfectly without Vanja’s thoughts in first person at the end of those chapters.
**


4.5 stars
There was once a princess and her maid, her best friend until something horrible happened to the maid that made her flee with the princess’s magical pearls, her identity and her new betrothal. For a year, Vanja (pronounced Vanya) is disguised as the princess in his empty castle, stealing from nobility to leave the country and the person as the princess and the maid behind when she steals something forbidden. Cursed by a low God (the god of the woods)she has until the full moon to right her wrongs, or at least that’s what she thinks she has to do to stop her from becoming a human sized jewel while dodging a nerdy junior detective on her heels and her war conquering betrothed comes back for her hand in marriage she has no intentions of keeping.

Now back to my thoughts...Another morally grey character, though every bad or selfish thing she does now turns a piece of her into a precious jewel. This is a world full of mischief and creatures afoot and everyone is aware of them. I love these types of settings, much like Holly Black’s books, humans are aware of creatures. There’s even a Calcifer like character in the castle I am so fond of. There is so many bear puns, keep an eye out for it, i was cracking up every time.I sympathize with Vanja so much it hurt. I wanted to cry for her, definitely wanted to be her friend.
I loved the way Owens wrote her and the plot. Just when i think things are going hopelessly out of control, it gets maneuvered, reminds me of Aelin in TOG always scheming in her head. Definitely give it a read!

I went into this book completely blind, not having read the author's previous duology nor actually even knowing her name but the description just sounded absolutely perfect for me. And gosh, am I happy that I clicked that "request" button on Netgalley, because "Little Thieves" will probably turn out to be one of my favorite reads of this year.

It's fantastical, very fairytale-esque and takes place in a world based on good old Germany, aka the country I'm from. I didn't know this at first so it was a lovely surprise, even though some of the German-like words used did break immersion for me (because Owen used some German words, and then some words and names that are very close to German but not quite right so instead of sounding fantasical to me, they simply sounded wrong - Göttenmarkt instead of Göttermarkt, Wolfhunder/Wolfhünden instead of Wolfshund/Wolfshunde, glöhwein instead of Glühwein - that kind of thing). That, and some instances where the main character misunderstands the intent of other characters purely for there to be a dramatic misunderstanding, are the only real criticisms I actually have. This book is just awesome.

The writing is whimsical and gorgeous. I loved the way the different parts of the book started off with fairytale-esque tales. The plot is fast-paced but not stressful, the mystery is nothing groundbreaking but still exciting and fun. But most of all, the characters are just - ugh. I love them, I adore them, Vanja is deeply traumatized and flawed. Her story is painful to read at times and honestly, I just wanted to protect her from the world. But at the same time, she's strong, she's clever, she's a stubborn little menace with lots of wit and charme. There is a childish moment (the butt-mirror-thing) that I thought was a little too much and didn't fit, she's not a twelve-year old kid after all, but other than that little moment her characterization is just really, really well done. I loved following her through the book, I loved the fourth-wall breaking, I felt connected to her. Her love interest is just as lovely. Emeric is intriguing, a total nerd and just such a genuinely good guy you cannot not love him. Ragne, shapeshifting daughter of a god, owns my entire heart. Even Gisele, who I admittedly didn't expect to like based on her and Vanja's history, turned out to be such a complex and wonderful character. The big villain is, again, nothing groundbreaking but he fits this kind of story perfectly. What makes him scarier than a lot of other ya fantasy villains is the fact that he does and thinks things that are very real-life-villain too (tw for sexual assault here).

"Little Thieves" is a quick and highly entertaining read full of awesome, complex characters, beautiful world-building and fairytale-like charme that I just have to highly recommend.

This book was received as an ARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group - Henry Holt and Co. in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. A wonderful YA thriller that will leave you at the edge of your seat in which I expected nothing less from Margaret Owen after reading Merciful Crow and Faithless Hawk and how those books really take you on a journey following alongside the characters as you both are embarking on this journey. I felt the same with Little Thieves. You wanted to think of Vanja as the villain since she completely stolen the life of Princess Gisele but at the same time, you sympathized with Vanja in all the turmoil she gets herself into and being mistaken as a goose girl who steals lives until she gets her own life stolen for good. There was a smile from ear to ear as I was reading chapters of this book and I know our teen book club will be highly anticipating reading this book and will have some great insights for them as well.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

this cover, first off, is stunning. the goose girl retelling? thank you. i absolutely adored this book and margaret’s writing.

"For all my schemes and facades and artifice, I am not prepared in the slightest for the simple, devastating intimacy of being believed."

A young girl with the worst luck is thrown to the Low Gods of Fortune and Death for a chance at a better life. She winds up a servant for the local nobility and at 16 years of age steal everything, and I do mean everything she can from those that hurt her. Her latest scheme leaves her with almost enough money to escape the empire, but it also leaves her with a deathly curse that she must figure out how to break within a matter of weeks. Fortune doesn't seem to be giving her any breaks when a junior prefect of the high courts arrives and is asking too many questions about the recent robberies. Can Vanja outwit this new arrival, will she be able to escape before the prince returns and demands a hasty wedding, and most importantly can she break the death curse that has her turning into rubies and gems?

This story has romance, action, an evil villain that wants to watch the world burn, but also did a great job of making me laugh out loud. The characters in this book were developed in a way that they all stood out and showed immeasurable growth throughout the novel. It also does a great job of describing the huge role trauma and PTSD can play in our lives and how difficult it can be to let someone in after being hurt before. All of these elements combined makes this book one of my top favorites in the genre.