I will never get over this series and Holy Terrors being the perfect conclusion only heightens my love for this world and its characters.
I’d like to start by saying that Owen’s way of writing banter and humorous dialogue is top tier. While this book does deal with heavy themes throughout, I can always expect some comical relief that I live for.
This book was one that was impossible to put down. The plot only got more intense as it progressed and everything was so artfully executed. One of my favorite parts of the entire story was certain character arcs being fleshed out beautifully and coming to terms with themselves and finally accepting who they are.
Without giving too much away, this final book definitely pulled at the heart strings but I wouldn’t have it any other way. With all the plot twists and turns, it was easy staying engaged till the end. And my god, that ending was fabulous.
That being said, I do believe a character chart and even a map would be beneficial for this story as there is a lot of information described throughout that can be hard to memorize on a first read-through!

This was truly one of the best series finales I have ever read. It succeeded in delivering all of the things I loved about the first two books, broadened and fleshed out the established lore, developed an entirely new and engrossing plot while also wrapping up all of the themes and arcs in way that felt natural and true to the characters, and just completely nailed the ending. It was such a satisfying read. Which is not to say the book is a bunch of roses. It utterly broke me in parts (as in: had to put the book down and recover before I felt up to reading it again) but it also healed me--it's pain and beauty and heartache and love in equal measure. Dear reader, you will feel things.

I won't delve too much into the plot but basically our characters find themselves in the midst of a page-turning murder mystery thriller (the body count is high!) that might also determine the fate of all existence, and, oh yes, they are all still finding themselves and each other and coming to terms with what they really want out of life and who they want to be. The humor is still there, though, and Vanya's voice is every bit as engaging. Many of our favorites are back, and there are some truly great new characters. I love them all--even the ones I really, really hate.

So, yes, get hyped. This book exceeded my expectations and more than met its moment. A well done ending that is very much worth the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Co, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this advanced copy! You can pick up Holy Terrors on April 1, 2025.

Such a great conclusion to the little thieves trilogy. Our favorites are back at it again but this time on some not so good terms. We go alongside Vanja and Emeric on this conclusion watching them grow out of their past mistakes and learn to forgive and forget from their many misunderstandings. Vanja and Emeric have always been on opposite sides of the law but on this conclusion we see them learn to accept the choices they make/made in life by realizing that "what if's" could have been just as painful and devastating as the paths they took. Highly recommend Holy Terrors, it is a wonderful ending for the characters we have come to love in the past two books.

It’s been nearly two years since Vanja left Emeric her token red penny— crown side up. Rather than stunt his endless potential and opportunities as a prefect, Vanja left, and has since been dedicating her time trying to help those who fall through Justice’s cracks. In this line of work, she’s gained some notoriety repurposing her guise as the Pfennigeist into a figure who helps those the law cannot. However, when the Pfennigeist’s red penny is left at the scene of a few murders of high profile politicians, the prefects are once again on Vanja’s trail, including a particular human protractor who had once promised to always find her.
Little Thieves and Painted Devils immediately became favorites after I first read them last year. When I first got approved for the ARC of Holy Terrors, I was first incredibly excited, then realized I wanted to get into it after reading The Fallow Year short stories (that have so far been released) and THEN decided that I might as well reread the first two while I was at it. This was my first time rereading them, but the emotional impact of both books was just as potent, if not more so, since I was looking for foreshadowing this time.
Now into Holy Terrors itself. This book broke my heart. Shattered it into little tiny pieces, but in the best way possible. I ached for these characters. I was constantly gasping, crying, and laughing. The story itself is packed full of action in more ways than one (yes I know how that sounds, and I didn’t necessarily mean it that way). To clarify— there are a lot of important things and events happening the entire time. Stakes are high and time is running out, but the emotional journey is also a roller coaster. Vanja as we meet her in book one is incredibly flawed, and though she’s grown, changed, and gone out of her way to heal and better herself, she also struggles to avoid falling into old patterns and reacting to her problems in the same way that she has before because the journey to healing trauma is not smooth. It is not always a positive, linear experience (I just helped my cousin with Algebra homework, can you tell?). There are pitfalls, bumps in the road, and days where the healing journey doesn’t feel worth the struggle and pain. Days where giving up feels easier and even right. And Vanja (and even other characters at times too) navigate their respective journeys in ways that feel so real and raw, despite it being a fantasy book with magic, gods, and enchanted items. I could rave about this book (and its predecessors) for hours, but I don’t want to spoil anything!
Just know in addition to the heavy, but touching material, there is also so much humor! Vanja and Emeric’s banter always brings a smile to my face (when it’s not making me cry because feelings) and I love the sass that other characters bring as well. And of course, I can’t mention these books without gushing about the queer representation in its pages! Queer relationships feel effortless in these books without ignoring the struggles of coming out and fearing familial reaction. It’s also never explicitly stated by name, but Emeric feels very demisexual to me, which I love seeing, as I’m demi as well.
I literally cannot recommend these books enough as a whole, but if you haven’t read them at all yet, now is the PERFECT time to pick them up since the final book, Holy Terrors, will be released soon!

Thank you to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Co, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this advanced copy! You can pick up Holy Terrors on April 1, 2025.

I am speechless. That finale was so well-crafted it's not even funny. Was it a tad long? Yes, but all the right pieces fell into place so that you see masterful growth from our main character, Vanja, and even Emeric. The way parts of Vanja's past came to a head in this ending was absolutely insane, and I love how many obstacles our main group had to overcome to reach a satisfying conclusion. Nothing was easy, and EVERYTHING was hard-earned for our protagonists. Does that invite more emotional damage? Absolutely. But it also enhances the reading experience.

SPEAKING of emotional damage -- my poor babies. Vanja and Emeric deserve the world, and Margaret Owen put them through unspeakable angst and suffering to reach a satisfying ending for all. I loved seeing them grow and change over the last two years from unruly teenagers into actual young adults. I won't go into spoilers, but let's just say the number of times this duo yanked on my heartstrings and pierced me through the chest was unreal.

I will be recommending this series to everyone and anyone I know. If you haven't picked it up yet, THIS IS YOUR SIGN TO DO SO.

This was a strong third entry in the Little Thieves series, it had that concept and joy that I enjoyed from the previous two books. The characters were everything that I was looking for and worked well in the world being built. Margaret Owen wrote this and the previous books perfectly and am excited for more from the author.

First off, I am so appreciative for the eArc I received.

Second...this is my favorite book I've read all year. A fantastic conclusion to the series. The characters have grown but still felt very age appropriate -- I love that Vanja never loses her sarcasm and sense of humor.

I was consistently on the edge of my seat, so invested in the story and characters (and if they got to live... I thought we were losing Ragne at one point). Truly a masterclass in writing engaging, digestible, but also absolutely insane world building.

A stunning and gripping read that will captivate fans of complex characters, morally ambiguous themes, and high-stakes fantasy adventures, particularly those who enjoy stories about redemption, self-discovery, and the blurred lines between good and evil.

QOTD: What character from a book/movie/show do you relate to most?

⚠️ Potential spoilers for Little Thieves and Painted Devils ⚠️

Holy Terrors is the culmination of chaos filled heists, accidental cult initiations, and the gem of curses with enemies to lovers, gods, a humorously haunted doll, and my favorite found family to date that will have readers turning pages and going through the full gamut of emotions. All of that thrice over.

Going into Holy Terrors, I was scared it wouldn't live up to what I've built it up to be and of their story coming to a close. I'm delighted to say it was all that I had built it up to be, and more. I cried at least twice (even the acknowledgement made me cry, making me think Margaret Owen is the Holy Terror 🤔😂). I chuckled so many times. This book, this series, is everything. If you ever read a book because of my reviews, let it be this one. It will break you and heal you in the best of ways.

🪟 I grew up somewhat similarly to Vanya. Unwanted and abused by her bio parents, abandoned by her bio mom, being basically adopted as the goddaughter of the Gods Death and Fortune (I was adopted as a teen, but not by Gods 😂), growing up doing whatever it takes just to survive another day.
Because of that, I realize that I connect with this series, these characters, in a way that not everyone may. If you're someone who's had a vastly different life experience, this book may not hit you on a deeply visceral level like it did me, and others like me.

If you're a character focused reader, you would love this. If you're a plot focused reader, you would love this. I feel like the mix of fantasy to romance is the prefect middle ground (slightly leaning more on the fantasy side, which is my preference).

After a lifetime of scheming and running, is Vanya finally ready and in a place where she can feel safe to stop scheming and running? Well, not stop scheming because then she wouldn't be the Vanya we know and love.

📖 I found the plot to be intriguing and I was captivated immediately. I both love and appreciate that this is a book that you can choose to read purely for entertainment purposes, or you can think more deeply about the big topics within the pages. Owen walks the line of bringing light to those topics without the reader feeling like they're the main (or only) point to the book. The series as a whole is like that.

Owen is a master at meticulously weaving an intricate plot, while keeping it from feeling overwhelming, contrived, or so intricate that it hurts your brain. Beautifully executed tie ins/call backs, twists and turns, as well as a shocking reveal.

Holy Terrors invites readers to consider themes such as what it is to be human, is vigilante justice truly "jusitce," and other big topics. You don't have to accept the invitation to enjoy the book, but you can choose whether to take Holy Terrors at face value, or to think more deeply on the themes within.

✍️🏼 Exquisitely written with gorgeous turns of phrases and rich descriptions, plus bits of snarky humor. It reads smoothly and easily, while being a delight to read.

🗺 Owen enriches the world she built in the previous 2 books, as well as adds new world building to create a fully immersive fantasy world. Additional lore and expansions on what's already been built leave the reader encorselled.

🔮 The magic system is well developed and explained in previous books, with some expansion in Holy Terrors.

⏳️Great pacing with action, tension, and beautiful character work pushing the plot along.

👥 A diverse, queer normative cast that are so endearing you can't help but love - or so cruel and evil you can't help but love to hate. The characters are full of personality with interesting backstories. Excellent character work in this series.

💞 This romance is one of my all time favorites. It started as true enemies-to-lovers, and has had many ups and downs since. They're bickering is so much fun to read. I love that Owen had them as actual enemies, and showed us how they went from that to so much more, and all the bumps along the way. The angst is so well done.

He's a rigid Type A, the youngest prefect (police investigator) in history, on the case to track down and bring her (as the Pfennigeist) to Justice.

📚 If you like: Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo), Sorcery of Thorns (Margaret Rogerson), An Enchantment of Ravens (Margaret Rogerson), Merciful Crow duology (Margaret Owen), A Fragile Enchantment (Allison Saft), A Far Wilder Magic (Allison Saft), Down Comes the Night (Allison Saft), or the Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries series (Heather Fawcett) - I think you would love this series.

Thank you to @what_eats_owls MacMillan Children's, and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

That dedication absolutely slayed me. As usual, I didn’t know what exactly Margaret Owen would give us, but I was more than happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.

This took a decidedly more somber and serious tone than Painted Devils where we pick up shortly after Vanja’s departure from Emeric and her family. Owen delivers expert world building and magic expansion while somehow thrusting us into a closed room of sorts mystery. We see much more of the magic with the gods at play, manipulated, and expanded, and it weaves in well to enrich the government and power structure introduced. There’s political machinations and intrigue, as well as a larger scam afoot which always made it feel like I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see who would fall next. You never really feel like there’s a pause or lull because someone is always next, magic is being wonky, or our main characters are clashing wits and barbs.

All that said, there were a few beats I missed here that kept this from feeling fully finished for me. The landing not quite stuck.

I did miss the humor interlaced throughout with Painted Devils which was lacking here, creating an overall heavier reading experience. At the same time, while I appreciated Vanja really interrogating the reasons behind her choices, some more obvious than others, like her mama drama, I did feel that it didn’t go quite deep enough or long enough. It felt like we got scant scenes where Vanja scrapes the surface with these, instead of really spending time digging deep. I get it’s a balance — there’s a larger plot to unfold and a whole serial killer murder mystery to solve, but the emotional moments felt jagged against the story instead of seamlessly blending in.

And while we get some new perspective on the factors that contributed to Vanja running in painted Devils, it didn’t quite feel fleshed out. The drama with Kirkling especially felt very abrupt, almost like the tone and dynamic between Kirkling and Vanja was forgotten in Painted Devils, given these characters did not interact over the 16 month time gap, by the time they meet, everything is too smoothed over. Kirkling’s apology was very bland and didn’t quite make sense to me.

Add to that how Vanja clues us into other feelings that had her running — being on a pedestal, having to be some perfect version of herself , etc, and they’re sentiments I understand but ones I feel came again rather abruptly. Maybe it’s because I didn’t reread Painted Devils before this, but her expression of those feelings felt so much more pronounced than it was intimated in Painted Devils, which made it hard to believe that was as much in play in making her run. I also hated that Owen makes a very conscious and deliberate effort not to have Vanja apologize, instead having Emeric do so. This felt so patently wrong for our beloved string bean. While Vanja may have acted out of hurt, her trauma, and self sabotage, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t owe those around her any accountability for how her choices affected them.

And here, more than in any other book, I felt the relationship between Vanja and Emeric was very uneven. Vanja seems to decide things for them without including Emeric as a partner and even in the end, I’m not convinced this changed substantially.

The romance aside, I also felt the other surrounding cast was used a bit too haphazardly. Gisele and her drama does t really get discussed much, Ragne is an afterthought mostly despite her prominence in Painted Devils, even our evil doll as legal counsel was often MIA and not very memorable.

Lastly, the magic and mystery itself felt a bit messy and confusing. I’m still not sure I quite understand what all happened in the end and it felt like we spent too much time on the mystery and chase of the villain instead of on the characters themselves. where the previous books used the villain and mystery to serve as a force that supported character development and interrogated and challenged them, the mystery here felt more like a separate conflict that fought for page time.

Overall, this was a satisfying ending to a beloved trilogy, but it wasn’t quite the solid landing I wanted where I feel like all my beloved characters got their due.

The last book in the Little Thieves Series delivers all the things that were best about the first two books - the chaos, the romance, the big human truths. After two years apart, Vanya and Emetic are at their best and their worst, when they are reunited to work on a case. They truly need the help of everyone they have met along the way to straighten things out (personally and professionally). Fortunately, many favorite friends from the past are present in this story (on and off page) to give them the help they need.

Anyone who has read the first two books of this trilogy clearly cannot expect that the story of Vanja and Emeric concludes in a concise, linear, simple way. And Margaret Owen did not disappoint, there is a jumble of plot that would irk me in any other book but somehow it works with these characters and the authors writing style. It is very much in-character for these two to complicate any choice they have and reach their destination in a convoluted round-about path. It would also be out-of-character for a simple adult conversation about feeling, but readers who have an interest in the romantic relationships between the two main characters do get an ending. The story also brings back some characters that were introduced in the prior books, involves a royal plot of succession, and has the mischief and misadventure that readers would expect from these characters. And beyond the amusing story, the illustrations in this book, like the prior books were absolutely marvelous. Anyone who has enjoyed the first two books of the series should find this an entertaining and fitting conclusion.
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group - Henry Holt and Co.) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

THANK YOU FOR THIS ARC!!!!! I immediately put this at the top of my (perhaps too long) list of ARCs and am so glad I did.

Holy Terrors is a perfect finish to the Little Thieves trilogy and releases April 2025.

Vanja Ros has been running her whole life. From cruelty and fear, and now from love. After leaving Emeric behind for him to pass his Finding, Vanja has been keeping the Penny Phantom alive by helping those who the law cannot help.

But now there is an imposter who is killing royalty and the prefects are tracking Vanja down to once again be on the case... and face everything she has been running from.

Holy Terrors did a great job with the folklore elements that have been present throughout the series, and adding in some absolutely unexpected time-shenanigans that forced Vanja to face the very real fears she had to deal with her whole life. Getting to see Vanja and Emeric back together with the undeniable flame between them, even (or especially) when they are at each other's throats.

What we believe is real, and what is real is that sometimes people suck... But sometimes they can change. Other times they might just throw themselves off the edge rather than change 🤷🏼‍♀️

Wow. What a series. This book had me laughing and then in tears and then back to laughing. I love this story and these characters so much. Vanja's growth and realizations about herself and life are everything. I'm so sad I'm done with these characters but excited to see what Margaret has in store next.

I've rounded up 3.5 stars.

Holy Terrors is a high-stakes, angsty, and character-growth-filled finale that wraps up the Little Thieves trilogy well. There are aspects that I like and some that I do not like. However, I could not stop turning the pages regardless. I finished the book in less than 24 hours.

Like the two before it, Holy Terrors has a refreshing and witty narrative that I absolutely love. I enjoy this author's sense of humor. There are many quote-worthy lines, both funny and serious, that I highlighted. The banter and dialogue between the characters is amazing. Holy Terrors has new characters that I like as well as all the old ones everyone loves. Although there are new elements to the story that are not in the previous books in this series, the plot and setup are really similar to Painted Devils. I also did not like most of the characters' choices. No, it's that I expect them to be perfect, I just found their choices hard to read about, because some of them are straight-up crappy. I am still deeply upset about some things. However, If you enjoy Vanja's and Emeric's antics in the other books, you'll get more of them here. One thing that did bother me is that anytime the characters would try to have a meaningful conversation, something would conveniently come up so they couldn't finish the discussion. That happens a lot, and it seems to me that it is done to drag out the drama. There's quite a bit of miscommunication. As far as the plot goes, it is decent, but again, a bit repetitive and predictable. That's not necessarily something that some people will dislike, though, if they like the previous books. The themes regarding dealing with past trauma, dealing with the aftermath of bad decisions, forgiving oneself, and repairing broken relationships are touching. I think this series should have just been a standalone or a duology because the characters deal with the same things over and over. I understand that with complex trauma things are complicated and messy and growth is not linear whatsoever, but it gets a bit tedious. Holy Terrors has its strengths and flaws, but overall, I think the author is so freaking talented and funny. I plan to check out her other series that I have not read yet.

Content warnings: Language including the use of f-bombs/sexual references and vague sexual descriptions
Trigger warnings: references to a non-consensual situation/references to past physical and mental abuse

Although I ultimately enjoyed it, my one big critique is that without reading “The Fallow Year” stories “Holy Terrors” is extremely difficult and at times almost impossible to follow. It reads much more like the fourth installment in a series rather than the third. This won’t be too much of a problem if readers know to read “the Fallow Year” ahead of time, but I personally only knew about their existence because I follow the author on Instagram.

That being said I do love this series very much and was delighted to be reunited with its characters. This book has so much heart and soul. I’m sorry to have reached the end of it. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge Little Thieves fangirl so I knew I would love this book. But it was so much better than I could event imagine. I started crying at the dedication and then just continued over the next two days as I tore through this book. Vanja and Emeric grow as characters while maintaining their intrinsic selves. The banter is hilarious. The kitten is adorable and mischievous. The body count is high. There's too much to love in this book and I cannot list them all so I won't try. I'm so sad this series is over but cannot wait to see what this author does next. Copies are already preordered and will be screeching about this one until it's on sale in April.