My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Little Thieves

Author: Margaret Owen

Format: hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 512

Publication Date: 10/19/21

Categories: Dark Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Young adult, Romance

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl… 

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother’s love–and she’s on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele’s dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja’s otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back… by stealing Gisele’s life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele’s sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja’s tail, she’ll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

First off, the book cover is beautiful and I was intrigued by the premise but I still wasn’t sure what to expect. I am glad I went in pretty much blind because this has just joined my list of top reads for 2021.

The world-building is wonderful and the story is told like a fairy tale. A dark one. The synopsis states it’s a loose retelling of the Goose Girl and honestly, I still don’t know the real Goose Girl story and I’m going to have to fix that since so many authors want to retell it lately. The story takes place in a kingdom with German influences from the language they speak and the food they eat. I love the fantasy aspect with the presence of the gods, and grimlings lurking around. I enjoyed the magic system a lot with the Prefects being able to perform some magic to fight off the grimlings.

I really liked that before each part of the story we get a “Once upon a time” moment. It set the tone and stage for what was to come in each part and I loved how the writing lured into this tale. The story of Vanja being an unwanted child from birth was already sad but as we learn everything about her, we get to understand her fears and motivations. Unwanted from birth, then becoming a maid to a Princess and abused, and then her godmothers give her an ultimatum to choose between them. She chooses to be a thief to steal her freedom. This story has heists, action, a curse, grimlings, mystery, friendship, romance and a nerdy boy of a Prefect who was the perfect catalyst for Vanja to open her heart to. We see the consequences of Vanja’s choices and we get to watch her struggle to face herself in the mirror and fix everything she had done.

The characters are fantastic. Vanja is a villain – or is she? Vanja has done some bad things and she’s got a lot to learn. Vanja is a great character. Vanja’s a thief but she didn’t only steal jewels, she stole a life, so what is a good punishment for that? What about a curse? A curse to know how it feels to be wanted like she wants for everything. Her character arc was a beautiful journey. She was whittled down to her vulnerabilities. The side characters are a great ensemble. Giselle, the real princess, learning she didn’t really lose much but maybe gained something in the process. Ragne, the bad ass shape-shifter, love her for being there for Vanja and accepting her, flaws and all. And of course there is Junior Prefect Emeric, too smart for his own good, determined, awkward, always taking notes lol…love him.

Speaking of love – Vanja only wanted to be loved and wanted and by the end of this story I wanted to protect her. Emeric and Vanja clash from the get go, she -a thief trying to hide her tracks and flee, he – a junior prefect trying to solve this case to get promoted. The two of them are funny, always trying to outwit the other, until they both come to the conclusion they are fighting the same enemy. They are both awkward and cautious about the feelings growing between them. There is tension, there is fear and so much miscommunication and misunderstanding because of the fears it broke my heart when Vanja finally falls apart. She has been traumatized throughout her life and opening up to someone…the possibility of finally being loved or having someone to love is absolutely frightening. I did want Emeric to grovel just a bit more though for misjudging her at one point…but then again, she did have him dumped in a river so…all’s fair in love and war? lol

Content Warnings: abuse, parental neglect

I was speeding through this book but it’s definitely one I could sit down and savor. It’s a borrowed library copy but I will be buying my own soon because there were so many sentences I loved.

My only issue about the book (because it was near perfection for me) was the ending. It felt rushed when Vanja tells the story about taking down Adalbrecht because she has to rewind to tell us the plan. In a way it seemed fitting to a heist though, if that makes sense? Like I can see it in a movie-reel type of way. It’s part of Vanja’s ever present sleight of hand trick she’s been using to steal this freedom she wants so badly and now we get to see how she pulls off the trick. But it’s a quick rewind. Other than that – I was still so happy by the end of this story.

Why you should read it:

• a dark fairy tale with morally gray characters
• the romance is enemies to lovers, so tense, awkward, vulnerable and at times sweet
• the story is emotional, engrossing, funny, and heartbreakingly poetic
• it’s got action, humor, friendship, romance, shapeshifting, a hearth spirit, a Gods Court and so much more

Why you might not want to read it:

• not into fairy tale retellings

My thoughts:

To think I had my best of 2021 list all ready and then I decided to read this book. I’m glad I did – I love it and will get a copy of my own because it’s so good. I was enchanted by the fairy tale story telling, then surprised at Vanja’s thief skills, her stubbornness, survival skills, vulnerability and bravery to face the consequences of her decisions. She and the characters of this book definitely stole my heart.

📚 ~ Yolanda

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Quotes from the Book:

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“Nothing stolen is ever mine. But there’s another truth on the other side of that coin. What is mine can always be stolen.”

Little Theives by. Margaret Owen

“I am his puzzle and he is my lock, and it’s an arms race to solve the other first. But somewhere in all the knots and twists and trapdoors, he turned to an arsonist, leaving his embers in my veins, smoke on my tongue, a fire burning softly in my heart.”

Little Thieves by. Margaret Owen

“If you want me to chase you, I will chase you. If you want me to find you, I will find you. If you’ll have me, I will choose you every time.”

Little Thieves by. Margaret Owen