This book is phenomenal!!!!! I cannot properly articulate just how much I adored it but Vanja deserves the entire world. I pre-ordered the actual book as soon as I finished reading the arc!

This book in general is just a very fun read, even when it gets emotional and tense. Vanja is a thief and not really that great of a person but she's funny and snarky and endearing and has her very understandable reasons for the way she is. Vanja's backstory is so good and emotional and she makes so much sense once you learn it!

The 4 people I would consider to be main characters (not counting the villain) are Vanja, the protagonist and pov character; Conrad, the detective trying to catch her thief persona; Gisele, the princess she stole the life of; and Ragne, a shape-shifting companion and friend. It is super interesting to watch the complicated web of relationships between these and other characters shift and evolve over the course of the book. There are also a few intersecting plots that create interesting moments and decisions and I enjoyed unraveling the main mystery with the characters. 

I loved the queer rep (especially demi which we need way more of!) and the general non-existence of homophobia and transphobia was great to see.

Little thieves is a retelling of goose girl with some very dark elements. Little thieves focus on Vanja, the maid who takes over princess Giselle's life. She is greedy and uses her newfound status to steal and hopefully fund her way to live on her own, far from her godparents, the Gods Fortune and Death. An overdone theme throughout this book is if you ask for help, it will be given in your time of need. Vanja is as stubborn and stubborn as can be on this, and each time her Godparents arrive to save the day, she firmly puts her foot down and says no, course they have given her the ultimatum that whichever Gods she asks for help first, she must serve the rest of her days. Due to her greed, she ends up being cursed by another God to have jewels grow on her body, which tells her to make amends for her wrongdoings. It takes the entire length of the book for Vanja to figure out how to do this, and while doing so, she unearths some very interesting demons and helpers. This retelling relies on you knowing the looser details of the goose girl story, especially helpful if you read another goose girl retelling Thorn by Intisar Kanani. Overall I think the author was creative with her version of the tale, the pacing in places seems drawn out, and the ending leaves me unsure where the series is going.

I loved this!!!

Little Thieves is a Goose Girls retelling that follows Vanja, the maid who takes the place of the princess. I enjoyed reading Goose Girls retelling for years now, starting with when I first came across Shannon Hale’s take on the story when I was in middle school. Little Thieves, however, was the first time I’ve seen the story portrayed from the point of view of the maid.

In my opinion, this retelling gave everything that I could have wanted. I could easily pick up on all the references and the ways that it drew from the original fairytale, but it also brought in an cool magic system and an interesting b plot that kept the story engaging even though I knew how it was end due my familiarity with the source material. In short, this book gave everything I want from a retelling. This book shined in the character developed. I loved what Owen’s did with the character of Vanja.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC I’m exchange for a honest review!

4.75 Stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry, Holt, and Co for for the arc of this book!

Vanja grew up with her adoptive mothers--the gods Death and Fortune. But when they force her to choose whom to serve, she has other plans. In order to escape this fate, she resorts to stealing to get enough money to escape her mothers, and ends up stealing the identity of her employer, Princess Giselle. Vanja has a run in with another god and is cursed for her greed. She must break the curse, or die.

I loved this book! Vanja is such an interesting morally grey hero and I loved watching her journey. Also I'm like 90% sure that Vanja and her love interest are both demi-sexual? But it never used the word so I'm not positive! But..I am fairly sure. They feel that way!

This is a retelling of The Goose Girl, which I haven't actually read, but I want to now! It was super interesting and I love love love Owen's writing. Loved all the characters, the lore of the world, and the tales between sections!

This is such a great book if you're after a morally grey hero, heists, gods, and courtly intrigue!

Pub date: Oct 19, 2021

Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! Wow! Wow wow wow!
This was my first Margaret Owen novel and I cannot begin to tell you how much it blew my expectations out of the water! This story was so original and unlike anything I have read.
Owen’s introduction of Vanya’s character and story was perfect and the blend of her background and how her traumatic past has made her the way she is was flawlessly done. The world building of the “Little Gods” and the paganism-like magic was unique and I didn’t feel like it was a repetition of a world in other stories. The side characters, especially Emeric, Ragne, and Gisele significantly contributed to the storyline and I was constantly waiting to see how Vanya would interact with them.
There was so much to this story but I was never overwhelmed and the ending was in no way predictable and honestly it was just perfect!
Preorder this book NOW! You won’t regret it!

This was really cool! It did take me a while to get into because even though this one was semi fast paced, the main character is just a little bit unlikable which is the whole thing of the story like she's this *terrible* person, at least according to herself, but once I got further in, especially when more characters are introduced it got super interesting! I also wasn't actually expecting romance, but the way that Owen introduced it was great, it gave me big demisexual vibes because of that one scene where the romance is ~kinda~ introduced, which I thought was really cool! I especially liked the ending I thought it was really interesting and I honestly wasn't expecting the twist.

This was a surprising delight for me.. There are so many (too many?) re-tellings, re-imaginings, and re-centerings of classic myths and fairytale that it was pure relief to read something so wholly original and fresh. Vanja, our protagonist, deftly straddles the line between being callously self-interested and so needy for love and kindness that you can feel her heart beat through each line of dialogue. The supporting cast is loveable and unruly, the magic-system is unique, and the bonds of family and how much we are indebted to them are probed in a way that I wish more YA novels would do.

The only real downside is that I wish I had been able to read a physical copy of this versus in my Kindle. At it's heart this was a fairytale, and there is something nostalgic about fairytales that requires the eager turning of pages to find out what happens next to our adventurous little heroines.

5/5 stars. To be released October 2021.

Little Thieves has jumped high up onto my list of favorite books that I have read this year. The writing is so witty and fun to read. I immediacy purchased Owen’s other novels after I finished reading the one! The novel is a retelling of the Goose Girl and while we may be overwhelmed by fairytale retellings at the moment, this is not one you want to pass up!

3.5 - A classic fairytale retelling with a snarky MC, a hilarious demigod sidekick, and a great enemies-to-lovers romance. If I’m being honest, I was more intrigued by the gods and the world outside the castle than the court politics and the “bring down the evil ruler” plot. As in her Merciful Crow series, Margaret Owen’s strength is in her creative and masterful world building. The spirits, gods, and religions of this world were captivating, and I was a little sad every time they left the page - probably why this wasn’t a 4 or 5 star read for me. The ending of the book hints we might be getting less court politics and more of the wider world down the road, which left me eagerly anticipating the sequel!

Little Thieves is a fantastic retelling of the class fairytale Goose Girl with a wicked, abrasive yet likable antiheroine, a buttoned-up, stuffy hero, and a captivating Germanic fantasy world. 16-year-old Vanja, the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, steals the life of the princess whom she serves as a maid. Under the guise of the Pfennigeist, she steals jewels and riches from the nobility around her. But her thieving days are numbered, as the god of the forest has cursed her for her greed and Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad is on the case to find and reprehend the Pfennigeist..

Little Thieves starts slow but ends with a bang. Vanja, while downright greedy, rude, and wicked, is loveable and understandable. The further the story, the more you empathize with her. Owen's writing draws you in as you get further and further into the story. And by the end, you're not sure whether to celebrate or cry or all that's happened.

I probably should have realized this was a Goose Girl retelling right away, but Owens made this story so much her own that it wasn’t until the end when the princess’s missing horse was named as Falada that I put all the pieces together, and suddenly I could see all the connections that had been there from the beginning. Kind of makes me want to re-read it now that I know.

I’m kind of glad I didn’t know ahead of time. Vanja’s story is heart-wrenching and beautiful.

Initial Thoughts
I was skeptical about this book. I did not love Margaret Owen’s debut, The Merciful Crow. But, I was interested in giving this author a second chance.

Some Things I Liked
Luis from Ant Man storytelling. I LOVED the way Vanja narrates the story and the way she breaks the fourth wall by talking to the reader. Also, I loved the way the story was not told exactly chronologically. The reveals and the way she told the story were perfect.
Three POVs in one. Vanja was so many of the characters and she played them all so differently. I loved the facets of her personality.
The romance. It was so subtle but so perfect.
Heist vibes. It has been too long since I read a good heist story and this was *chef’s kiss* perfection.

Series Value
I’d love to follow more of Vanja’s adventures. I loved the ending and would definitely read more. I’m also really glad I gave this author a second chance.

Final Thoughts
This was one of my favorite reads of September and quite possibly the year. I loved every page.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Margaret Owen's The Merciful Crow duology was the kind of buzzy fantasy debut that puts authors on readers' radars. So folks that have been paying attention should already have been expecting her follow-up novel, a new fantasy folktale retelling called Little Thieves, to be one of the best titles of Fall 2021. And, happily, it turns out that assumption is entirely correct.

(Truly, I will read anything this woman writes at this point.)

Owen's character work shines here as usual, from the unapologetic and irreverent way Vanja approaches her life of crime to the quartet of interesting sidekicks she accumulates along her mad dash for freedom. She's not necessarily a great person - and isn't particularly sorry she stole - but Little Thieves goes out of its way to let us see the fear `and pain that drive so many of her choices. (After all, you can't ever be mad at anyone for leaving you if you leave them first.) It doesn't absolve her of her responsibility for her choices, but the story is ultimately richer because they are understandable ones.

I want to thank Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for approving my ARC request through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Margaret Owen, author of the Young Adult Merciful Crow series, brings to us the world of where gods are real; and they’re not to be trifled with. Readers shall be introduced to Death and Fortune’s adopted daughter Vanja. Vanja knows she’ll never be free if she’s in the clutches of her godmothers. After working as an honorary servant for a year she steals the identity of her employer, the beautiful Princess Gisele. Vanja uses her new identity to become a jewel thief to fund her expensive escape. This was only the beginning of Vanja’s life was turning upside down. Things take a turn for the worse when Vanja is caught stealing from the wrong god. In return for her greed, she will slowly turn into jewels, and only has two weeks to break the curse.

If you want to know what happens, be sure to read and find out…

I am going to give this book a four out of five stars. While yes, the book’s summary immediately caught my attention because I love young adult fantasy books, I have to say that the cover design is stunning! After this book is published, I’m definitely adding this one to my personal library. I’m going to add half a star because of a brilliant cover design, so I’m changing to my rating to 4.5 out of 5 stars. Hahaha.

Okay, moving on! Let’s discuss the pros and why I’m still going recommend this book. I loved the world building and pacing throughout the story. It was entertaining because it left me wanting to read more and more. We’re introduced to each character without feeling compounded and overwhelmed. I enjoyed the character’s voices as they were memorable and easily distinguishable from one another. When you’re introduced to new characters, they’re described in a descriptive way. This was enjoyable as I could visualize the storyline like a movie in my head. Plus, certain elements were made clear, so even if you couldn’t visualize the entire scene or character, you can visualize what the objects look like. Next, another thing I enjoyed about this book was the dialogue as I thought it was smart and witty.

One of the components that kind of bugged me were mini plot holes. Like certain scenes or commentary just didn’t add up for me.

Thank you very much Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me the opportunity to review this ARC of Little Thieves by Margaret Owen.

LITTLE THIEVES absolutely blew me away. The book has earned a rightful spot in my top ten favorite novels ever with its intricate worldbuilding, unique characters, and wholesome romance, all with a generous dusting of eerie magic.
The story follows Vanja Schmidt, a girl whose nefarious past has driven her to a life of greed and deceit. On a daily basis, she poses as Princess Gisele--only to rob nobles under their noses at parties. Her legacy as a thief is grand: after every job, her signature red penny is left behind as a token, leaving a trail of mystery. What treasure is out of reach for the Red Ghost? Seemingly none, so when Vanja is caught by the forest god after another successful party, she can't fathom why. The forest god, however, is furious about her ring, a token of protection, being stolen from the nobles. She curses Vanja to turn gradually to gemstones over a period of two weeks...unless she can make up for what she has taken.
In a fabulously woven tale of want, magic, and love, Vanja is forced to grow as a character in order to save her own life. Her character arc was impressive. Personal, in the first-person POV. I felt Vanja as myself, her desires as my own. By the end of the book, she had given me a tolerance for redheads...and that's saying something. She was fiery. Her sarcasm kept each page alight. Watching her arc was so wonderful.
The romance was slow-burn, and let me tell you, it was phenomenal. Both the side characters and the main found relationships that had me grinning like a fool and had tears brimming in my eyes. If you're looking for a subtle, well-developed enemies to lovers book, this is for you.
I loved this book so much. Individuals anywhere from young teens to adults will adore this YA fantasy.

The best fairy tale retelling since the Lunar Chronicles, and the most interesting book I've read in years! I was already a fan of Margaret Owen from her other two books, but this one took her storytelling prowess and character development skills to an entirely new level!

READ IT. I can't even begin to think of all the elements that make this book an absolute can't miss read--but if you're a fan of unique characters, vivid details, gorgeous prose and language, electric dialogue, twists and turns you could never figure out because they are woven so intricately and organically into the story....then LITTLE THIEVES must be next on your TBR pile!

Truly, this is a book that defies description, because the only way to understand this masterpiece is to experience it for yourself! If I could give it more than 5 stars, I would!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot say enough good things about Little Thieves! I love fairy tale retellings, and it's nice to see the genre expand into some of the lesser-known tales. While it took me a little bit of time to warm up to Gisele and Vanja, once the characters started opening up I was hooked.

Little Thieves follows Vanja, the adopted daughter of Death and Fortune, and she's got to pledge her life to one of them before she turns seventeen. The only problem is that she's not about that life, With a stolen set of enchanted pearls, she takes on the life of her former mistress, Princess Gisele and her servant Greta when she takes the pearls off. Things are all well and good as she steals in the attempt to accumulate enough money to get the heck out of there. That is until she crosses paths with (and ends up pissing off) a god who curses her. Unless she can break the curse by proving she's not just a greedy little thief, she'll die.

This book is long for a YA book, 500+ pages. That said it took a while for me to get into it. I was always interested in the story, but at times it was slow. That said, I never wanted to give up. I'm glad I didn't because the last part of the book is just an avalanche of "whoa" that took my review from liked it a lot to freaking loved it! I think it you can overcome the sheer size of this book, the story is definitely worth it. Vanja is a pretty morally grey character, but she's had such a tortured past that we just can't help but root for her, especially when the villain is just such an abhorrent sack of crap.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC!

Best fairy tale retelling since Shannon Hale's Goose Girl y/y?

Honestly, this was GOOD. It's been a while since I read a truly excellent YA, and while I was reading it so many things kept surfacing in my mind that I wanted to praise in the review. I did not keep notes, however, and I've certainly forgotten most of them by now. Just know that, for everything I mention here, there were probably two other things that stood out as enjoyable that I'm not mentioning.

Anyway, this is partially a goose girl retelling, and partially something new and/or a different fairy tale that I'm not familiar with. It reminds me of the one where the girl has precious stones drop from her mouth whenever she speaks, but that was a good thing whereas Vanja is cursed.

Regardless, it's got its own very strong character, and the retelling elements show up as familiar echoes and faint references rather than defining the details of the entire story. Which is how I like it.

The beginning was a little slow. Vanja comes off as smug about pulling off her heists, and there are a lot of details and no one in particular to like. After the 20% mark, though, things started to pick up. There's LOTS of stuff to have fun with here.

• RELATIONSHIPS. This is a huge one because there are so many and they all have a particular poignancy. Vanja and Gisele's fraught, soured friendship. Their breach is entirely understandable from every direction, and I wanted them to make amends SO badly.

Vanja's relationships with Death and Fortune. Nice! Nice! Nice!!!! I love this.

Ragne was a great character, just quirky enough to be entertaining but real enough to like and not dismiss as a gimmick.

Even the relationships between enemies had an excellent weight. Adalbrecht was a truly compelling villain, and Gisele's parents were the kind of selfish, ordinary evil that rings as true in real life as it does in a story like this. Both confrontations and victories were VERY satisfying.

There is a romance, and guys. I liked it. It was complex, and tied inextricably into both characters' growth as people. It was gradual enough to not be instalove -- didn't even really appear until about halfway through the book. It was cute. It was difficult, but understandably so. It was present enough to allow you to enter into the emotions, but never seemed to unrealistically overshadow the actual life-and-death threats and adventures facing them at the time. There's really nothing here I can complain about and that is truly the highest praise for a romance in a YA book.

• Character development!!! This is HUGE. A lot of minor characters show some admirable growth, but really this is about Vanja. I have a massive amount of respect for the writing that went into Vanja's character. She's the evil handmaiden in the goose girl story, so.

Vanja is a twisted-up ball of abandonment issues, trauma, bitterness, fear, and desperate survival mechanisms. She's annoying, selfish, smug, and teeters on the edge of self-destructive. Like I said, I didn't like her very much in the beginning and you can see why she gets cursed. At the same time, she becomes so incredibly sympathetic.

As more of her story and inner life is revealed, I came to have so much more interest in her as a person. There is some true authorly finesse here in walking the line between acknowledging Vanja's hurt and trauma, and ALSO acknowledging the hurt and trauma she herself has visited on others. It's done really, really well and I wound up liking and sympathizing with almost everyone involved (except for the obvious villains). There are relationships healed and difficult, hard-won apologies. Vanja is an extremely strong character, but she's also allowed to break down.

Really, the whole thing is an incredible work of balance and nuance. I enjoyed it so much.

• A bunch of other random details, like the humor. Ragne is a big part of it, but Vanja also does a great job at being wry, funny, and genre-self-aware without being glib and tacky about it.

The magic was cool, and the way all the fairy tale elements blended in a non-traditional but still recognizable way.

Classic Ocean's Eleven audience-misdirection moment. This had me truly worried for a second, and I was so relieved when it turned out to be all under control. Also I love how after all this magic and tightly-coordinated switching of roles, Vanja defeats Adelbrecht's final trap in such a low-tech, almost anticlimactic way. It made me laugh.

I know there's a lot of stuff I missed, but all in all? DEEPLY enjoyable read. I would give it 4.5 stars, and the only reason it's not 5 is because of the work it took to get into the first fourth of the book. Honestly, this was a big surprise. At first I wasn't even looking particularly forward to reading Little Thieves, but it truly knocked my socks off by the end.

This was a beautifully crafted retelling from Margaret Owen. I have to admit I am not familiar with the original fairy tale, the German in origin The Goose Girl, but I am so intrigued now because this was incredible.

This is written in a way that the story jumps off the page. A young hellion of a girl is given up by her mother, off to live with her adoptive godparents, Death and Fortune, where she becomes a servant. Until she refuses that life any longer and takes over the life of a princess, masking her appearance to look like the princess with a magical necklace.

She lives a double life of royalty and thievery, now very skilled in theft. Having Fortune as a guardian has afforded her a certain skill set. But when all her crimes begin to catch up with her and a curse is put on her, turning her to the jewels she covets, stone by stone, she is in a race against the clock to break the curse.

In this book, an array of characters and creatures of good, evil, and all the colors in between, will grip you and hold you utterly captivated.