Giving 4 stars because ultimately I really enjoyed the book….but that’s mostly for the Vanja/Emeric storyline (come on yearning!) and the strength of the side characters. For me, in terms of actual plot, this is ALL over the place. I truly understood what was happening about 20% of them time and basically none of the last third. It’s so confusing and mystical and all that but in a way that I could not follow. It made it a little hard to understand the stakes at any point.
Ultimately, the first book of the series is the best by far. But I am glad this third book brought us back to the story and to the characters and finished some of the character arcs.
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

wow. wow wow wow wow wow.

I love this trilogy so much. I love all the characters and the banter and the representation and the magicalness. I love love love that this book got a little bit of complexity when it comes to our main character romance situation in terms of internal complexity. we all know that both of them have hoards of complicatedness happening outside of themselves individually.

I will say that this one of the three, was a little harder to follow for me. A lot of that comes down to how many characters there are and how many people there are to remember. I have a feeling that there's some sort of map situation or character chart in the physical books or at least I hope there is but for the audios that's not an option. A lot of the names also sound very similar and so I did struggle a little bit to kind of keep everybody straight (hehe) and organized.

That being said, My mind is blown by the ending of this and I absolutely finished this with a giddy little smile on my face. I cannot recommend this enough.

It's quite the dichotomy through this trilogy—the more main character Vanja respects herself and begins to believe she deserves kindness and pleasure, the darker these books get! The body count and the stakes all get seemingly exponentially higher with each novel. It's certainly exciting and hard to put down, but it's a very long way from the original Goose Girl fairy tale retold. I had the same issue with this book as with the previous one, in that I found the motivation and focus of the primary antagonist absolutely impossible to comprehend. I think to a big extent though that is the point, that it's not about why some people do terrible, cruel things, but about how the protagonists deal with these situations and with the fact that they too will never really understand why. At its heart this series is a love story, and a wonderful one because you really care about the characters involved, even beyond caring whether they end up together. I really enjoyed the AO3-published short story collection (The Fallow Year) bridging the previous book and this one, which really highlighted both main characters' growth over the intervening period and also had some cool detective stories.

I'm obsessed, OBSESSED with this series. The voice/style is so unique and so fitting to the character. The interludes with alternate choices had my heart in my throat. The kitten! The multi-murder mystery! The worldbuilding is woven into everything from the clothes and coins to the names and architecture. It feels like it absolutely could have happened in quasi-medieval Germany.

And also, I think Vanja would be thrilled that her third book came out on April 1.

Such a great book loved the series I love it so much! 5/5 great ending. Would recommend and continue reading her work

A fitting end to an excellent YA series, though some of the different genre elements used in the final 120ish pages may put some readers off, Owen finishes her series triumphantly.

Wow. I absolutely ADORED the ending of this trilogy. Margaret Owen really knows how to not only keep you engaged as a reader but to really play with your emotions!!! I gasped and giggled along with the book, and loved every second of it. I am hoping we get some more AO3 additions to Emeric and Vanja's story, but I think that this may truly be the end. I cannot wait to pick this series up again and again. And I love a happily ever after.

Thanks to NetGalley, Margaret Owen, and Henry Holt and Co for the eARC of Holy Terrors in exchange for an honest review.

This book was everything I’d hoped it would be and it took me on a wild ride the whole time! Everything about the conclusion of Vanya’s story kept me hooked, I didn’t want it to end but I couldn’t put it down. There were points where I wanted to scream at the characters and times I wanted to cry with them, so so good. I hope readers get more novellas from this world because I’m not ready to let it go!

Vanja has finished serving Brunne, & is now fighting against injustice where she can. But then someone starts murdering royalty & leaving her calling card. & she has to clear her name.

I have adored this whole series, and this was a worthy ending to this trilogy! We had amazing character growth, and so much folklore woven in. And the action was non stop! My heartstrings were pulled so much, but I did have to take breaks as I was too stressed. And I would highly recommend rereading the first two of the series, as there were lots of references and returning characters that I found it a little difficult to keep track of.

Thanks to both NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the opportunity to review this arc!

This was a phenomenal ending to the trilogy! And, it sets up more adventures for Vanya and Emeric and friends. I do hope we get more of them

It does start with quite a bit of angst for Vanya and Emeric, but they quickly settle back into their investigating partnership (and annoying one another). The plot twists and turns and is a little hard to keep track of towards the conclusion, so that I never knew what was really going on. It made for a very satisfying read, especially when it all clicked into place and all the hints and tidbits from the other books made sense.

Even in the midst of the confusion and plot twists and angst it was a satisfying read because of Margaret Owen's command of her writing. She is absolutely one of the best YA writers out there and by rights should be a household name alongside Leigh Bardugo and Sarah J Maas. (To be clear, her writing is much better than either of those, but they're the names people always think of.)

Vanya and Emeric also show quite a lot of personal growth in this book which was also very satisfying to read.

The audiobook narrator did a wonderful job bringing the characters and situations to life. I absolutely loved listening to her.

Absolutely phenomenal and I will be reading these books again and again.

*Thanks to Henry Holt & Co and Macmillan Young Listeners for providing an early copy for review.

Holy Terrors has been one of my most anticipated reads since Little Thieves came out. Vanja's journey is at times painful and sad, but there is a lot of joy in it too. While we left her in a very insecure place at the end of Painted Devils, she is exhibiting more confidence in Holy Terrors. The year has left her time to come into her own, as the Pfennigeist, and as a daughter, sister & lover? And while she is initially, obviously wrong about why she left Emeric... she figures it out and works through it, with Emeric. Love them.

In a fantastic new setting, with nobles dying all around them, Vanja and Emeric, and crew will learn that the best way to work through a problem is: together. The finale of this series brings all our favourite characters back to the narrative: Ragne & Gisele, Fortune & Death, as well as newcomers: Lilja & Benno. There are hijinks, there are terrible decisions, and villains we love to hate. While I am sad there is no more of this series to read, it was a very satisfying ending. I will be rereading this series over & over for years to come.

Also - the illustrations are BEAUTIFUL, and a wonderful addition to the sections describing the facets of who Vanja could've been had she made different decisions.

There was one chapter in this novel that went off the rails at the end and was so action packed that I did feel like the plot went wayward, and didn't really understand the timeline convergence or divergence, but I do love these characters and needed to know what happened to them, and I love how inclusive the author is of every person and acknowledges all identities. It may be subtle to other readers, but this is what makes this series a must read, must purchase and highlighted series for the youth and school library collections.

An entertaining conclusion to the series, if a bit disappointing when weighed against the original book in the trilogy.

On the whole I think this was a good series, though there has been a notable slide from the first book to those that followed it, and I think it’s because the series migrated so far from its original premise. This was originally a Goose Girl reimagining, but that aspect of the plot is largely gone in the second and third novels, replaced by a lot of Will they/Won’t they romantic subplot nonsense that mostly annoyed me.

Romance readers might enjoy this, as it’s typical of the genre, but as these were originally fairy tale retellings, it winds up being a bit of a bait and switch for readers not looking for that specifically. It’s easy to root for Emeric and Vanja as a couple, but there’s a lot of manufactured drama that eats up pages and distracts from the better parts of the story.

There is also markedly less humor as the series progresses, which is too bad, as Owen really did well with this at the beginning. I think the whole series is still worth reading, but the first book is both differently plotted and far better in quality than those that follow.

While it was great to be back with Vanja and Emeric, I ended up enjoying this less than the previous two books. Those were very much favourites for me, and this one simply didn't live up to it. The character dynamics and the humour were once again so entertaining, but I wasn't as into the plot this time. I felt like everything was drawn out unnecessarily, and the longer the book went on, the more confusing everything became.

Oh, how I love the return to our favorite little menaces. Margaret Owen has quickly become an instabuy author for me, and this conclusion is no exception to that! I loved watching Vanja grow, but was so sad to see some of the more unfortunate happenstances occur. In the future, I will revise this review with more concrete thoughts, but for now, please know that I absolutely ADORED this series.

My only (very minor) complaint was that the pop culture references felt relatively out of place given the setting. It did detract from the immersion, but it was subtle enough that it didn't impact me for very long.

As always, all my thanks to both Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the chance to review this ARC!

This is how you write the third book in a trilogy!
I was so lucky to have been granted an arc of both the ebook and audiobook, which made for a truly immersive reading that this story deserves.

Vanya'a life has taken a turn, and now she has to fight against things she's started herself.
The stakes are high, and especially in the last third of the story I could barely catch my breath.

There are twists and turns along the way - so much when I got whiplash at times. There's also a kind of multiverse and timey-wimey stuff. And boy,I do love a multiverse and timey-wimey stuff.

I have to admit, in book 2 I lost trust in the story for a while. But oh was I wrong.

There is so much character growth, heartache and pain. But also humor and a kind of tone that really got me.

If you haven't started this trilogy yet, now is the best time.

4,5/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio and @panmacmillan for the eARCs.

#HolyTerrors #Netgalley #Bookstagram

3.75 stars
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A much awaited sequel for me, I rushed into Holy Terrors. I went into this book with the highest of hopes, but left a little let down.

The things I loved about this book, I loved. This story is a wonderful continuation of Emeric and Vanja’s relationship. You get to see it grow and develop over the course of the series, but this book does something really special in how it handles it. I love the players in these books, and the world building is lush. The humor is top notch and I love Vanja as a narrator. You really get to see her grow as a character, but as a person, too. But what it fails to be, for me, is cohesive. Following the plot was near impossible and I held on for dear life, but was left more confused at every turn. Never did I fully grasp what was happening at any moment and while sometimes that works, I just found that even the conclusion left me with more questions. I feel like I needed a fourth book to really space out what was happening so there was more in depth explanation. The scope of what was trying to be accomplished and explained and the amount of players are stake was too much for one book.

Making this a more spaced out quartet of books would have made it so much better for me. But I did enjoy it.

I just finished Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen, and I absolutely loved it. This book has everything from magic, adventure, a heist vibe, and a slow-burn romance that had me totally invested. It’s the kind of story you want to take your time with, just soaking in all the details and getting lost in the world. If you're into books that blend fantasy, clever twists, and a little romance, this one’s a gem.

Margaret Owen's Holy Terrors is the third installment in the author's Little Thieves series. Holy Terrors forces Vanja to confront the full weight of her past choices—and decide who she’ll become when the dust settles. Set nearly two years after the events of Painted Devils, Holy Terrors finds Vanja operating solo as the Pfennigeist, a folk hero who robs the corrupt to aid the desperate across the Blessed Empire of Almandy. Her signature red penny has become a symbol of justice—until a serial killer begins leaving it at the scenes of royal murders, turning her legacy into a nightmare.

When even the Blessed Empress falls, the empire teeters on the brink of collapse, and the seven royal families must elect a successor within weeks or risk reality itself unraveling. Vanja’s forced back into the fray, reuniting with Journeyman Prefect Emeric Conrad—the boy whose heart she broke—to clear her name and save those she loves. What follows is a whirlwind of bloody conspiracies, sinister magic, and old enemies, all woven into a narrative that is as thrilling as it's poignant. The two years apart have changed them both—Vanja into a folk hero with a tarnished reputation, and Emeric into a more seasoned prefect—but their chemistry remains the beating heart of the series.

The central mystery of the killer framing Vanja unfolds with twists that are both shocking and satisfying, while the looming threat of reality’s collapse adds a cosmic urgency. The stakes feel personal, even as the fate of an empire hangs in the balance. And yet, it’s the more minor details—Vanja’s doodles on Emeric’s notes, the absurdity of a haunted doll, the sausage references—that keep the tone delightfully irreverent. Vanja’s journey from an abused, abandoned girl to a figure of legend is complete here, but not without cost. Owen doesn’t hand her a neat, happy-ever-after; instead, she earns a future shaped by her own hands, scars, and all.

It’s a conclusion that respects her complexity, refusing to sand down her edges. Complicated themes of choice, power, love, and freedom are expertly woven throughout this breakneck book. Unwanted by her own parents, raised by Death and Fortune, Vanja deals with so much in this story that it's a wonder that she can keep her wits about her. I loved the addition of Junior the cat, mainly because he made me smile with his antics and had to share custody between Vanja and Emeric. I loved the graphics between chapters, which show Vanja in different situations she has found herself in over the past 19 years. This book features numerous important characters, including Gisele, Ragne & Oskar, and a dangerous character from Vanja's past, so I had to use index cards to keep track of who was who and their significance.

Holy Terrors is the 3rd book of Margaret Owen's trilogy, which began with Little Thieves. We're following the story of Vanja Ros, the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, as she navigates self-discovery, geopolitical intrigue, love, friendship, and growing up.

I read Little Thieves, but not Painted Devils, and found that I could follow this 3rd installment pretty well, as most of the characters and true angst stemmed from characters in Book 1.

Vanja is nearly 19 now, doing her own brand of helping the poor and waffling about Emeric, until she finds herself as a suspect in a political murder. This turns into a political mess reminiscent of a papal conclave, with plenty of twists, turns, and surprises.

I found Vanja's cheekiness funny and endearing, and her bumbling through life felt realistic considering her history, although at times it bordered on annoying.

The writing was beautiful, with plenty of descriptives, lyrical moments, very dry banter, and just the thoughts of an irreverent teenager trying to figure the world out before it killed her.

I skated over much of the politics, and some of the grander action scenes, because this is a HUGE book, and I wanted to see who dun it already?

Overall, the story is a mix of fairy tales, parable, fable, and a fun house of mirrors.