About the Book:

Title: Little Thieves 

Author: Margaret Owen

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Release Date: October 19, 2021

Pages: 512

Genre: YA Fantasy

Synopsis:

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.

Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of “The Goose Girl” about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both. 

Review:

This was my first read by Margaret Owen, and I definitely want to read her backlist books that are sitting on my TBR! I really enjoyed this retelling that was loosely based on The Goose Girl, which I didn’t realize going into this one. This was such a fun retelling!

Vanja Schmidt is the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, a former servant, and currently a princess. She possesses a magical string of pearls that give her her former mistresses’ face, life, and future husband. She’s been living the double life of a jewel thief as well. If she can pull off this final heist, she can get what she truly wants, her freedom. Just before she’s about to pull off her last heist, she crosses the wrong god and is cursed with a terrible curse. She will slowly turn into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja only has two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and gain her freedom. Things are complicated with a feral guardian half-god, her mistresses’ fiancé, and a junior detective all on her tail. She will definitely have to pull out all the stops!

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to others who enjoy ya fantasy and retellings. There’s action, adventure, and even some romance. I thought that it ended perfectly, and I am a bit nervous for the sequel. Time will tell!

About the Author:

Born and raised at the end of the Oregon Trail, Margaret Owen spent her childhood haunting the halls of Powell’s Books. After earning her degree in Japanese, her love of espresso called her north to Seattle, where she worked in everything from thrift stores to presidential campaigns. The common thread between every job can be summed up as: lessons were learned.

She now spends her days wrestling disgruntled characters onto the page, and negotiating a long-term hostage situation with her two monstrous cats. (There is surprisingly little difference between the two.)