Little Thieves is one of the best YA books I've ever read. Owen's writing is vibrant and beautiful, and her characters leap off the page with humor and heart. I cannot wait to read the sequel!

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen; Henry Holt, 500 pages ($18.99). Ages 12 and up.

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Margaret Owen knows how to spin an entertaining yarn ("The Merciful Crow," "The Faithless Hawk"), and she works her magic yet again in this dazzling reworking of "The Goose Girl."

In the traditional fairy tale, a wicked maid steals the kind princess' face and her life (including her betrothed), but the maid is exposed and dies horribly for her crimes. Here, Vanja Schmidt, the "wicked maid," is the star, getting a chance to tell her own story in an intricately plotted tale of gods, curses, detectives, spirits and scheming nobles. And as always, Owen's sympathies lie with the underdog. (Vanja muses: "I wanted her to know what it was like sleeping in moldering straw, having only one tatty, smelly frock to her name, living at the mercy of a world that didn't give a damn.")

The daughter of a mother who handed her over to Death and Fortune, Vanja is determined to break free of her otherworldly godmothers. As the novel begins, it has been a year since Vanja stole Princess Gisele's face and life – thanks to a string of enchanted pearls – and she is busily robbing the local royalty of their jewelry to finance a permanent escape to her own chosen future.

Then she runs afoul of a god who curses her for her greed; a ruby pops out on her face, a pearl on her belly button. She has two weeks to mend her ways or her body will harden completely into gems and she will die. To complicate matters, she is also facing her imminent marriage to Gisele's fiance, the Margrave Adalbrecht von Reigenbach, a singularly repulsive, power-mad individual twice her age.

The arrival of a junior detective investigating the jewel thefts ramps up the suspense, as an increasingly desperate Vanja struggles to undo the curse by making amends to those she has wronged.

Owen excels at fantasy world-building and she has outdone herself here. She is a colorful writer and the narrative hums along, with humor, suspense and romance. (The cook Yannec is "a great salt ham of a man with the thick arms of someone who spends their days wrestling stew.")

I absolutely loved this book! The world building was so fresh and the characters incredibly nuanced! Definitely making Margret Owen an auto-buy author!

This was the best retelling of the Goose Girl I have come across. Vanja was a great character and the retelling added so many new aspects. I was prepared to give this 5 stars but the romantic drama in the last 3rd of the book really ruined it for me. It just went on and on and on...and I felt really took away from the rest of the story. Overall, loved the characters and story.

The cover grabbed me with this one. But sadly it just was not for me at all. I found the character under development and the setting and world just were not up to par with other stories I have read. I kind of really hated what the author did with the folklore she used to create this story. None of it worked for me and I was bored out of my mind. The writing felt more like Juvenile versus young adult and the gods felt like children to me. I think that this one just was a full mess of things tossed together and I just did not enjoy it at all. I think readers who enjoyed this authors other books might like this one but that is just my opinion since I did not care for her other title because it had pretty much the same issues. Things were confusing and boring and I just had to put it down. I did try this one three times just because I loved that cover but sadly it just was not for me.

Little Thieves is a retelling of The Goode Girl! I have adored the fairytale of The Goode Girl since Shannon Hale has penned an excellent retelling! I wanted to read this retelling because of the author of Merciful Crows! I have to say this novel was everything I wanted it to be. This novel is darker and more mature retelling! It is very emotional! The writing is filled with gorgeous prose! The story has a fairytale feel to it! Thus, I adored Little Thieves! This novel is perfect for fans of C. J. Redwine, Elizabeth Lim, and Julie C. Dao!

Little Thieves is a retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ tale “The Goose Girl.” It’s the story of a maid, Vanja, who becomes a princess by wearing a magical pearl necklace. She steps into the princess’ life just as she is about to marry an evil prince. While the folktale focuses on the princess, this book tells the story of the maid. Vanja is the goddaughter of the goddess Death and Fortune and each are pressuring her to choose between them. In her princess disguise, she robs the aristocracy to acquire enough money to purchase her freedom. Yet, the robberies soon become the subject of a criminal investigation overseen by a Junior Prefect (who ultimately becomes Vanja’s love interest). And if that isn’t enough, Vanja must break the curse of another goddess who punishes her for her lies and thievery. Tick tock! Events collide at the time of the wedding, and it takes one clever plan to save the day. As you can see, the story is complex. While Owen creates an intriguing fantasy world and has strong characterization, the story has a slow start. Fortunately, it speeds up in the end. Its message speaks of class struggles and moral ambiguity. Who has the happier life and what is important?

This was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed our main character and her growth in the book. Even the side characters were great! Emric is probably my favorite because who doesn't love a nerdy boy cinnamon roll love interest

This book has such a cool premise and a really exciting opening! I read and listened on audiobook in combination and the narrator was very good. I like how difficult the plot was to predict, though it did drag a little bit at times. Great descriptive writing though and interesting characters! I loved death and fortune most.

As expected from Margaret Owen, LITTLE THIEVES is a fun, engaging romp that I devoured in a single sitting. Owen's worldbuilding is comprehensive and well fleshed-out, in large part due to her incorporation of folk and faerie tale lore. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Absolutely amazing. Smart and snappy writing, addictive characters, and amazing world building. Can’t wait for the sequel!!!

I purchased this book for my high school library. My students have enjoyed it. and it has circulated well.

Little Thieves is a YA fantasy novel that follows Vanja, who stole the life of a princess. This is a retelling of the Goose Girl and admittedly I am not familiar with the story.

Although I found the writing to be fantastic, I thought the book was too long and the plot moved too slow. There were multiple times when I found myself struggling to keep up with characters and I especially didn't care for the romance. I love romance in books, but this one frustrated me, but fits perfectly for a teenager I suppose.

Overall, this book was well written and an interesting concept, but the book wasn't for me.

Little Thieves is loosely a goose girl retelling about Vanja, the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, who is a thief pretending to be a princess while also stealing from the rich, until she gets cursed to grow gems all over her body until she returns what she stole.

I enjoyed so much about this story. The writing was beautiful, I adored the main cast of characters and how flawlessly Margaret Owen crafted this story. I didn't want to put it down. This was a great adventure story. I'm a little confused about where the second book will go since this wrapped up so well, but I'm interested to read it.

One thing I will say, there were some notable differences between the ARC and the final copy, but nothing plot-wise. I will say the one thing I'm iffy on was the language- it was like German but not? It would have been nice if they just picked a language and stuck to it. That being said, the audiobook narrator did SO WELL and had no identifiable accent for me when it came to the "German" words. Highly recommend the audiobook as well.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I think if you like fantasy, enemies to lovers romance, and a loveable main cast, you will too!

This is the best fairytale retelling I've ever read. I think about it at least once a week. It's creative, compelling, exciting, breathtaking and thrilling. Absolutely must read.

I loved this book so much, and my only sadness is how long I took to read this story. I loved Vanja and her scheming and her growth through this story as she learns to trust and that she’s not completely alone in the world. I loved how surprised I was by Emeric from my first impression of him, and I loved how much of a perfect match he was for Vanja. I love that we got to know the real Gisela and how much I sympathized with her as well. And of course Ragne was hilarious and the absolute best. I laughed so hard while reading this book and felt so much too. The world was detailed and lush, and I am thrilled that there will be more of these characters and their adventures. Highly, highly recommended.

Outstanding! One minor content quibble but nothing that takes away from the amazing storytelling.

So many intricate details and twists and turns... I'm amazed at how it all comes together so perfectly! Think Leverage meets The
Princess Switch meets Once Upon a Time, and there you have it.

Not gonna lie - I am not super familiar with the folktale the book is based on. But I'm ok with that, because this book is excellent even without that background knowledge. In fact, I was up WAAAAYYY past my bedtime to get that story finished, because I wanted to see what would happen - and how it would happen.

I loved the characters, particularly - of course - Vanja. She's a young lady who has done some pretty crappy things, but has done them to try and survive. Unfortunately, every one of those crappy things has come back to haunt her and she has to figure out how to fix it before it literally kills her.

I enjoyed this world quite a bit, and would love to see a few side-stories about some of the other characters. Overall, it's a fantastic addition to my shelves!

A phenomenal fairytale/folklore retelling! I loved the medieval German setting and traditional German fae folk, and this was such a unique tale to adapt. The characters are complex, unique, and have interesting and layered relationships with one another, which is always the most important thing to me in any book. The magic system was also so well developed and intriguing!

I had heard nothing but good things about this book coming into it, and I left feeling very validated in my friend's opinions. Margaret Owen has created such a spectacular twist on a story I wasn't super familiar with and left me wanting even more. Vanja was such a determined and delightful protagonist and the world of this story had the perfect fairy-tale quality to it. The story was fun and exciting and left me desperate for the next book.