Little Thieves - Review

Book Review:
Title: Little Thieves
Author: Margaret Owen
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"Vanja, no."

"Vanja, yes."

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love. The adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, Vanja has long made her own way in the world as the dutiful servant of Princess Gisele. Until a year ago, when her otherworldly mothers demanded payment for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back . . . by stealing Gisele's life.
With the help of an enchanted string of pearls, Vanja transformed into her former mistress and took her place, leaving the real Gisele a penniless nobody. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming the nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Until, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to turn into jewels, stone by stone.

With a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on her tail, Vanja has just two weeks to pull off her biggest grift yet, or she risks losing more than her freedom - she could lose her life.

Utterly delightful!

I spend a decent amount of time on Twitter on a regular basis and whenever I see a tweet about Little Thieves pop up on my timeline it’s always spoken about with the highest regard. I literally have never seen a negative tweet about it – and now that I’ve finally read it…I get it.

Because this book was so much fun.

Now I’m not completely familiar with The Goose Girl, which Little Thieves is a loose retelling of, but that wasn’t an issue at all. And actually, having limited knowledge of the original tale made this story feel so fresh to me.
I think also in recent days we’ve seen more YA books about thieves, but Margaret Owen packs so much into this one novel that it really does stand out and feel new.

This is of course a tale of a thief and a curse, but on top of that we also have magic, family dynamics, romance, friendships, trauma/healing, and a whole lot of charm. All of that combined together gives the reader a chunky 500-page adventure.

It did take me roughly 20%-ish to fully immerse myself, but I think that’s fairly common for fantasies. And once I really got to know Vanja and some of the other characters, I just became attached and was eager to see how everything would pan out for them all.

Vanja herself was a great main character. She comes across as an antihero – she stole an identity. She steals jewels for herself. She’s prickly and stubborn – but obviously I still loved her because there is so much depth to her. As you learn more about her past through the ‘tales’ you begin to see how she is a product of her mistreatment and is merely trying to survive in a world that doesn’t want to see her thrive. She has a lot of trauma which has left her feeling mistrustful of the world, and as the core of this story we see her slowly open up and realise she doesn't have to nagivate everything by herself.

Alongside Vanja we also have a wonderful cast of characters:

• Emeric, aka the Junior Prefect working to solve the mystery of the jewel thief. A certified soft boy who shared quite the thrilling cat and mouse dynamic with Vanja. I think a lot of people will love him and his relationship with Vanja – expect angst, yearning, enemies to lovers and some humour.

• Gisele, the princess whose identity was stolen. I don’t want to delve too much into Gisele’s character, but what I will say is that I loved her complexity and seeing her relationship evolve with Vanja and a certain *someone else*.

And lastly:

• Ragne, a half-human shapeshifter tasked with keeping an eye on Vanja and her curse – also the most precious and should be protected at all costs. Ragne was the star of the show for me. There were times where she really made me smile so hard and I just wanted to wrap her up and keep her all for myself. She’s the type of person you want around you – completely loyal and will very much keep you entertained with the constant, random questions.

There are some other interesting characters, like Vanja’s parents, Death and Fortune, but these guys above really stood out to me both individually and as a group.

Overall, I did enjoy Little Thieves. The plot is super engaging and imaginative and will very much keep you hooked. Personally though, the true highlight of this book was the characters. There is so much more to them than first meets the eye, and it was great seeing the layers slowly be pulled back and watch them develop and become more self-aware.

If you’re looking for a fun fantasy with a unique plot, complex characters, LGBTQIA+ rep, personal growth/healing, and a sprinkling of some delightful romance, perhaps you should pick up and read Little Thieves…

4 Stars
Goodreads