Little Thieves is a Goose Girl retelling, but from the villains perspective.
Vanja is the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, and the servant of Princess Giselle. Until a year ago when Death and Fortune try to make Vanja pick between them and choose who she wishes to serve for the rest of her life. But Vanja decides to take her life back, by stealing Giselle’s for herself. Now Vanja leads a lonely double life, until she crosses the wrong god. Who curses her to turn into jewels, until she makes up for all that she has stolen.

I have never heard the original story of The Goose Girl, so I can’t talk about how this rendition compares. But on it’s own, I absolutely adored it. I honestly wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did. I was surprised that there was a minor enemies to lovers romance, that didn’t take the reigns of the plot. Which I felt fit perfectly with the story. I loved all our characters and the plot was intriguing enough that I didn’t need the romance to hold up the story. Vanja was obviously our “villian” but we were led to understand why she did the things that she did. I felt sympathy for her. Throughout the entire book I felt a whirlwind of emotions, which makes for a great book in my opinion. Little Thieves made it into my top 15 books of 2021. You don’t often get to see the villains perspective, which made this book pretty unique. I highly recommend checking this one out!

This is another ARC I am shamefully behind in reviewing, as it was already published 3 months ago. I am not going to lie, I almost cut my losses and DNF’ed this book because I was not enjoying it in the beginning. Sometimes books have slow starts, so I generally read about 25% before making a decision about whether or not I am going to finish it. I passed the 25% mark of this book and just couldn’t get into it, but I decided to persevere and continued plugging forward. I’m glad I did, because about halfway through was a turning point for me. I enjoy fantasy books with a healthy dose of romance, but the romance is generally not the draw for me. This is a rare case where the central romance is what redeemed the story in my eyes. It just felt so real and the sizzling tension that develops between the characters gave me actual butterflies. Something that sets this story apart is that the main characters are “normal” in the sense that there is nothing physically remarkable that sets them apart. They are not beautiful and there is never an illusion that their appearances are anything but plain. The attraction between them grows organically through their interactions, which made it feel all the more real. There is no instalove or mooning over each other’s physical attributes, just pure magnetic chemistry between two people who are equally matched in intellect and wit. For this reason alone, I finally made it to the end of this book and gave it a higher rating than I would have otherwise.

This book did not disappoint! I absolutely love Margaret Owen's creativity and ability to birth characters that are intriguing, unique, and hard to let go. Vanja has been added to the morally ambiguous, Slytherin girls' unite hall of fame. Emeric took me by surprise, as he starts off as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in Buffy...but ends up really being Wesley circa Angel.

He has this vibe when he goes after Vanja, cause he is smart and figures her out in no time at all. Vanja of course takes offense and immediately assists him off a very-high-and-possibly-not-survivable-window.

The relationship between Vanja and Gisele is complicated. Vanja was Gisele's maid, and she considered herself Gisele's best friend, until a certain point in their lives when Gisele's family makes it pretty obvious to Vanja where she stands. Gisele comes from privilege and is unable to see how Vanja is really treated by her family as Gisele herself tries to treat Vanja as a sister but has huge privilege blinders on making her unable to really have a connection. Vanja is of course resentful, so when opportunity to get back at Gisele, and greatly improve her odds, arrives she does not hesitate. Gisele has problems of her own, as her mother treats her terribly and hacks at Gisele's confidence bit by bit, ultimately giving her off to our antagonist (an extremely unpleasant fellow) as one does in medieval times to improve their odds.

Ragne is a shapeshifter, daughter of the goddess that curses Vanja for stealing one of her protection amulets from a high born lady. Vanja is cursed to grow gems on her body until she makes things right and returns what she has stolen/does a truly selfless act. Ragne sticks around Vanja, and quickly becomes the most adorable pseudo human as she slowly learns human etiquette but only the parts she wants/likes and leaves the rest behind. She is powerful, and a truly great companion to Vanja as she is the only one who is always there and understands her better than everyone.

I truly came to love these characters. The world, the magic, the ways goddesses mess with human lives, the morally grey decisions... *in lurve* Margaret Owen is an instant buy/pre order author for me. She has written two duologies so far (because I guess this book has a sequel!!) and I loooved her first, and love this one as well.

Little Thieves, by author Margaret Owen, is the retelling of the Bavarian fairy tale Goose Girl. Little Thieves is about a girl named Vanja Schmidt who was given away by her mother to Fortune and Death when she was a young. Vanja goes on to become a servant. After being treated like a punching bag by Giselle's family and friends, she takes the life of the princess with the help of some enchanted pearls. Vanya steals jewelry from the wealthy in order to save up enough money to escape the reaches of the goddesses Fortune and Death's constant meddling.

Death and Fortune told Vanja that when she turned 17, she would have to choose which of her mothers she wanted to serve for the rest of her life. She's one job away from gaining enough money to flee when she crosses the wrong god and is cursed. She has two weeks to break the curse or she will turn into jewels, stone by stone. As if she doesn't have enough problems, Gisele's odious fiance returns home from the war and a junior detective is hot on the case of her theft spree.

But there's more to the curse than meets the eye, and Vanja must navigate through a field of ever-more-dangerous obstacles, including Ragne, the daughter of the god who cursed her, a junior prefect, Conrad Emeric, bent on arresting a jewel thief, Giselle, and her hatred for what Vanya did to her, and, worst of all, the real princess's domineering, sinister fiance who has brought back darkness and evil with him in hopes of rising to the top. Vanja is greedy, cunning, sarcastic, selfish, and stubborn but also funny at times.

I think one of the most interesting parts of this story is whether or not Giselle will forgive Vanja for literally destroying her life and leaving her penniless. They grew up together, were best friends, but Giselle's family treated her like a punching bag. It takes a series of tragic events for these girls to take a step back and see the world through the other's eyes. I also loved Ragne. Ragne is a shapeshifter who is told to watch over Vanja and make sure she doesn't go off the rail, as it were, in her attempt to make right what she did wrong. Ragne also falls in love with Giselle which should make a certain part of the population eager to see how it plays out.

What a fun book! If you don't know, I am a huge fan of retellings! As someone who was not familiar with The Goose Girl fairy tale, this book was an exciting adventure! At first, I felt a little thrown into the main character Vanja's world. The magic wasn't something I fully understood and the royal titles were long and confusing, but as the book went on it all started to come together. You follow along as Vanja tries to break her curse as well as sever ties with her godmothers Death and Fortune.

I truly loved the characters in this book and I think they're what makes this story one of my 2021 favorites. Vanja is so morally grey yet you can't help but love her. Her forced new friend Ragne was one of the best side characters I read in all of 2021. And Emeric was just the best.

I am so excited there is going to be a sequel and I look forward to spending more time with my girl Vanja. Highly recommend this one if you're looking for a fun and unique fantasy story!

I wish I had liked this more, it has everything I ask for. But I struggled to get through this, I just could not connect to the characters, and the pacing was too slow. Did I buy it? Yes. How could I not with a cover like that?! Will I still book-talk it? Also, yes. Hoping to give it a re-read and enjoy it more the second time around.

The Little Thieves is a story about Vanja, a cursed child who was raised by her godmothers Fortune and Death. Vanja has lived her life by stealing the identity of Princess Giselle and has been cursed by another God due to her greed. Vanja has to escape the curse while also battling with Giselle’s fiancé and several others that are trying to pin crimes on her. Normally this would have been a hit for me due to the story line, but I spent a lot of the time a bit confused and not really enjoying the story. Might have just been the wrong time for this one. 3 stars. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) in exchange for an honest review. Though I did end up listening to the audiobook version.

This is a retelling of a lesser known fairytale, “The Goose Girl” and I LOVE that the retelling trend is expanding outwards to go beyond the fairytales that everyone knows! Vanja Schmidt is an absolutely delightful morally grey protagonist who is witty and flawed and full of real human emotions and insecurities. The side characters are full of life as well and Owen does a great job of bringing this world alive.

I thought that the magic rules along with bringing in the God realm made sense and operated well within the plot line. Owen's writing style is entertaining and I fully enjoyed listening to the audiobook of LITTLE THIEVES. This will definitely be added to my list of titles I suggest to teens at the library, I think they'll like it.

Saskia Maarleveld is honestly one of my favorite audiobook performers out there right now, always doing a great job with the narration.

I adored this book from the beginning to the very end. I didn't even know that it was a retelling of "The Goose Girl" until after I finished it and thought more about it. I loved Vanja's determination on becoming her own person and to not serve Death. She robs the rich royalty of their jewels and is trying to make a better life for herself.

Thank you to Margaret Owen and Netgalley for this advanced readers copy.

I’ve been losing patience with YA fairy tale retellings for a long time, so I wasn’t expecting to love Little Thieves – but I absolutely did. It’s wonderfully voicey, with a fantastic flawed, realistic heroine, a fabulous set of secondary characters, some great worldbuilding and an immensely satisfying plot.

Go. Pick. Up. This. Book. Now. It's been a while since I've been so immersed in a book. “Little Thieves” sucks you in and you won’t want to get out of its wonderful world. I loved the German folklore influence, this book is a retelling of “The Goose Girl”, written by the Brothers Grimm. “Little Thieves” is, somehow, an aesthetically pleasing world (not just the cover, which is also amazing!). I enjoyed Margaret Owen’s writing, she wonderfully crafted a retelling of a children’s story and I can assure you, you will love it.

The goddaughter of Fortune and Death steals the life of the princess she has served for years and gains access to a life of wealth and comfort. When a low god becomes wise to her thieving ways, though, she is cursed to know the price of her greed. As she tries to break her curse, a Prefect comes to town chasing her alter-ego, the Red Penny. Will she be able to evade him in time to break her curse? Or will her greed kill her first?

I’ll admit…it took me until about halfway through this book to really get into it. The first half is amusing and well written, for sure, but also a bit bland. As the plot picks up towards the middle though, it felt like all of a sudden the characters came fully, vividly to life. This story is whimsical and fairy tale-esque, but I also found Vanja to be a very funny narrator and loved how she broke the fourth wall. (I can’t type "fourth wall" without thinking of Fleabag, one of the greatest shows of all time.) Owen does a masterful job unraveling her motives and deeper wounds, and I found that the way that she resolved her conflicts with her loved ones in stages to feel deeply human and authentic. We all know what it is like to harbour resentment and anger, and figure out how to let it out so that we can let relationships heal – it doesn’t happen overnight. Vanja’s character development was spot on, as was her relationship with Emric. This book is true (and refreshingly) YA, and I’d recommend it as such with no qualms. It reminded me a bit of both Naomi Novik and Katherine Arden’s work as well, with interesting lore and familiar-feeling characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

It has been so long since a fantasy book sucked me in completely. From the epilogue the book was already impossible to put down. The author has such a distinct old fairy tale voice that it gave the book a fantastic atmosphere. I also loved the representation that was included like the F/F couple, the M/M couple abs the Non-Binary character. The pacing in the first quarter of the book was a bit slow but once I got about 30% in I could not put it down

This is 100% how I imagine all folk tales about the villains should be written. Dark, woodsy, and just feels like dirt under your nails. I have not heard of the "Goose Girl" that this is apparently based off of but I'm here for this.

There are many reasons to like this book: the protagonist is complicated, the plot moves quickly, and is interesting, and it's a queer normative world. For those reasons, I would recommend it to young adults and older. It's another fairytale retelling book, and "Goose Girl" isn't the most well-known fairytale. I sometimes got a little impatient with the protagonist. I know her life was hard and unfair, but she makes selfish decisions in response. I wouldn't necessarily use her as a role model, but I can see how this book could be used to ask good and deep questions about how we act when we feel we are wronged. It's a good fable for our society, and what happens to those left behind from the capitalist dream. The thing that this book really has going for it is that even though it's based on a fairytale, you're not always sure what's going to happen, how characters will act. It will surprise you, and that's reason enough to read it.

4.5 stars

“It has been nearly thirteen years since Death and Fortune claimed me for their own, and I have come far enough through winter and cold that almost no one calls me Vanja now.”

I read this sentence and I was a goner. Immediately hooked, instant captivation - who has responsibilities? Me? Don’t know her- I’m reading my new favorite fantasy retelling *hair flip*

“Once upon a time, there was a girl as cunning as the fox in winter, as hungry as the wolf at first frost, and cold as the icy wind that kept them at each other’s throats. Her name was not Gisele, nor was it Greta, nor even Pfennigeist. My name was—is—Vanja. And this is the story of how I got caught.”

The number one thing I adore about MO are the worlds she creates, they’re imaginative and elaborate and beyond anything I could ever comprehend. But what struck me even more about Little Thieves was the clever way the original tale of The Goose Girl was incorporated with essentially the same moral and characters at first glance while also standing entirely on its own as a fantasy tale unlike any other.

And not to mention just deliciously morally grey characters that resonate with me on a personal level- you just get where they’re coming from ya know? And you can’t help but root for them all the way.

Add to that a narrator dripping in snarky wit, dialogue packed with banter, and sass upon sass that had me literally rolling with laughter. If you pick up any fantasy retelling from this year then let it be this one.

“There’s a shimmering, intoxicating kind of thrill to it, this game between us. I am his puzzle and he is my lock, and it’s an arms race to solve the other first.”

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this book! All thoughts and opinions are solely my own. I also bought myself a physical copy and listened on an audiobook from the library because this book was too good to put down.

content warnings: animal death, reference to sexual assault, parental abandonment/neglect, emotional and physical abuse

Little Thieves is a retelling of The Goose Girl fairytale, from the perspective of the thief named Vanja instead of the princess! For those unfamiliar with the tale, Vanja steals an enchanted pearl necklace that gives her the appearance of the princess she worked as a maid for, and she betrays her to steal her life as well. We follow Vanja in her attempts to play the role of princess while stealing enough gilden to escape her life, the kingdom, a horrible prince (of sorts), a clever prefect close on her tail, her two godmothers who are literally gods, and an ill-fated curse. Will she manage to escape with her life?

I am 100% certain I’ve read this fairytale as a little girl before, but I have no idea where from, and I was thrilled to remember it all over again in a way that made me feel torn apart and amused and loved and seen.

I struggle to find the proper words to describe what I loved about this book, because my immediate answer is everything?! The characters all felt real and genuine and multifaceted, the dialogue and banter left me in tears from laughter or heartbreak, and I truly was hooked on this book from the very first page.

Margaret Owen is now one of my favorite authors, this is probably my favorite book of the month (jury’s still out but possibly the entire year), and I eagerly anticipate reading the sequel and her original series!!

Such a beautifully written story that I can see sparking inspiration for others. I believe this is a story that will be recommended by others in the future as well and will include audiences of multiple varieties. I love books that span the ages like this one.

Little Thieves has firmly cemented Margaret Owen into my auto-buy authors list. I loved The Merciful Crow duology (so much that I'm still thinking about it months later), and so I was thrilled to read her next book. While this is a total departure in story, the writing is just as good if not better. Despite the fact that she's the adopted daughter of Death & Fortune and mascarading as a princess, everything about Vanja felt relatable. Her struggles and goals were realistic despite the magical elements. The side characters made the novel, especially Ragne who I think had the most impact on Vanja's growth. Overall, highly recommend!

This book started out way slower than I expected but the ending was totally worth it. I really enjoyed the magic system but wished it was explained more - I think some of the time in the beginning of the book could have been spent here.