"Little thieves steal gold, and great ones steal kingdoms, but only one goes to the gallows."

A retelling of THE GOOSE GIRL, Little Thieves follows Vanja, the God-daughter of Death and Fortune -- and maid to Princess Gisele -- as she steals the identity of her mistress, and is subsequently cursed by a Low God for her greed. She must save herself from the curse, and the entire kingdom from the dangerous Margrave she's set to marry. Vanja is a morally ambiguous character...a product of her upbringing and the cruelty she faced. Her selfishness and greed a result of having little for herself, and having only herself to rely on. I liked how it didn't make her a bad person, but she was certainly a complex character. Overall, LITTLE THIEVES is an enjoyable fairytale retelling with a morally complex protagonists, a sweet enemies-to-lovers romance, and a side f/f romance, as well as all the fantasy elements so well known to the genre.

TRIGGER WARNINGS ⚠️ PARENTAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT, PHYSICAL AND VERBALLY ABUSIVE ENVIROMENT, SEXUAL ASSAULT

3.5 stars

Vanja Schmidt is the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, both of whom she is trying to escape from.
After years of being Princess Gisele's maid, Vanja took over her life, and uses the princess's standing to steal from the nobility to fund her escape.
But after a heist, Vanja finds herself cursed by a Low God, with only two weeks to break the curse to stop herself being turned into jewels because of her greed.
Can Vanja stop the curse?
Can she escape a future of serving either Death or Fortune?

The blurb for this book really intrigued me, and I decided to give it a chance despite not loving the previous book I read by the author.
Vanja was a likeable, morally grey protagonist. I felt sorry for her and enjoyed seeing how she reacted in different situations and with other characters.
Ragne was my favourite character, but I also liked most of the other characters such as Emeric, Vanja, Gisele, Death, and Fortune.
The romance was sweet and didn't feel rushed.
The concepts of the Low Gods, and things like the nightmares and Vanja being able to see good and bad fortune were interesting.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention throughout. While I wasn't gripped, I did want to keep reading to find out what happened.
I really liked the writing style of Vanja's voice.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, unique read.

i honestly feel that if I start to type a review about this book, I just won't stop.
There is so much to love about this book.

Vanja is the main character and her bad-ass mates come together to save a kingdom and solve a crime.

Such a brilliant and enchanting read .. The slow burn romance was just absolute perfect!!
Morally grey characters are my fave so I was in my element the entire book.
Loved it - highly recommend!!

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton publishing for letting me enjoy this book.

This is my first read from author and I love the storytelling style. The prologue gripping my attention instanly and the premise intriguing me. I found my self find difficult to get connection with the characters and but still capable to make me care enough to continue.
The plot, pace and conflicts all enjoyable.
Perfect book for reader who love fast read with dark twist from fairytales retelling.

Sometimes fairy-tale retellings can be a bit hit and miss, but Margaret Owen delivers in this retelling of The Goose Girl. While I'm not a fan of villainous redemption arcs, it is very easy to get swept up in this medieval Germanic fairy-tale adventure.

This was my first foray into reading Margaret Owen, and I really enjoyed her writing style and characters. Sure, it might have some of the usual YA and fairy-tale clichés and tropes, but it was just a whole lotta fun. The story isn't weighed down with unnecessary padding and you easily become immersed into this world and the troubles of snarky Vanja and her squad. Some of Owen's other series have now definitely jumped higher on my TBR pile and I'll definitely be picking up any more offerings in this series.

Recommended for fans of: Six of Crows, The Gilded Wolves,
The Lunar Chronicles, Thorn, The Sisters Grimm,
Among the Beasts & Briars

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the copy.

Little Thieves, by Margaret Owens
Published: NOW
Rating: 5/5
“Once upon a time, there was a girl as cunning as the fox in winter, as hungry as the wolf at first frost, and as cold as the icy wind that kept them at each other's throats. Her name was not Gisele, nor was it Marthe, nor even Pfennigeist. My name was -is- Vanja. And this is the story of how I got caught.”
Wow! I am very fussy when it comes to fantasy novels, and it can take a while for me to see the vision, but that was absolutely not the case with Little Thieves. Vanja is an incredibly complicated character, who is constantly torn between serving her godmothers, Fortune and Death. With the help of an enchanted set of pearls, she navigates her world as a jewel thief, but upsets the wrong god, and ends up cursed to become the very jewels that she steals. I loved following her through Owen’s intricate world of magic and lore, and could hardly put the book down. As a retelling of the ‘Goose Girl,’ it is absolutely magical, but also brilliantly original. Vanja is sharp and sometimes quite unlikeable, but ultimately steals your heart. Owens is a master at world-building, and her creatures are terrifying. Her depictions of the nightmarish creatures that pursue both her and Emeric are stunning. Little Thieves is a real triumph, and Owens is a powerful voice in YA fantasy.

Second of all, I want to make one thing clear in the beginning: I decided to DNF this book after the first two chapters. This review is not about the plot because I haven't read enough of it to form an opinion. This review is more about the use of the German language in the first 5%.

The way the German language is used in this book made me DNF this book. Maybe I should have treated it more like a "fantasy language with German influence" but some words were just horrible wrong and I cannot keep my mouth shut about it.

Please keep in mind, that this is only MY PERSONAL OPINION and you are allowed to think otherwise.

This book is a retelling of the Grimm Fairytale "The Goose Girl" and surprise: The Grimm Brothers were German.
I think that this book is also set in a German-esque world, even tho I can only tell because of the usage of German words and not the landscape because I did not read enough of this book. Now to the words that bothered me (a lot):

Most of the German words were written in cursive but also some English words like "That's" or "accident" were cursive so I am not sure what the reason for that was. Maybe it was also just my edition.

Pfennigeist
This word was literally translated in this book as Penny Phantom which would be correct if the German word wouldn't have missed a g (the right spelling would have been Pfenniggeist)

glohwein
This one bothered me the most because it was used sooo often! The exact spelling would have been Glühwein. The author had no problem using ä/ö/ü in other words so why not use it correctly for this word ?!

Komtessin and Komte
So I think the author wanted to use the German word for countess in this situation which is "Komtess". I don't know what a Komte is but I think that should be the male equivalent to a Countess so in German it maybe would have in a Graf or something, considering the french word for Graf is comte.
In general, the usage of German nobility titles was sometimes weird. In one sentence the words were spelt with a capital letter and in the next one, it was small again.

I decided to skip a few pages ahead to see if this was just in the first few chapters but after seeing other words like Frohlein (which should have been "Fräulein"), Scheit (which probably meant Shit, which would have been "Scheisse" in German) and the cherry on top Wolfshünden, which was named before in English as "Wolfhounds" and I can tell you that Wolfshünden is definitely not the right translation for that English words.

Yes, I could have treated it as a fantasy language but this one was just too little made up to not bother me.

I am really sad that this bothered me so much but I couldn't continue reading it this way.
I will not give a rating for this book but still decided to post this review to say what's on my mind.
If you decide to comment on this review: please be nice.

I throughly enjoyed read Little Thieves and would recommend it to people. The plot was interesting, and the characters were all you could ask for (rounded, dynamic, and a “lived-in” quality that made you feel like they were real). By biggest complaint was the breaking of the forth wall in the narrative voice. There were many times Vanja’s internalizism addressed the reader, even going as far as to use “you” when explaining her emotions. These asides were unnecessary and could have easily been blended into the main descriptions. Furthermore, the reason they stood out to me is they broke me from the story and reminded me that I was reading a book and not immersed in it. My favorite part was the short fairy tale of background given as the first chapter of each part, they were a clever way of giving the background for the character. As personifications of death are my academic research area, I must talk about the character herself. The figure changing form to be whom ever is about to die, draws on a long tradition of such. Remaining feminine in pronouns despite the form was unique because it also implies the Death is always female. While the marketing focuses on the retelling of the Goose Girl, it doesn’t negate how much it also draws on a different Grimm tale, Godfather Death. This also deals with a lesion in greed, and how the godchild can see their god parent, allowing it to slot into the narrative well. I did enjoy the book, but the breaking of the 4th wall is really what kept me from loving it. It’s a lovely stand-alone story though, and I’m glad to have read it

DNF at 31%

I really tried liking this, but I couldn't get into the writing. I couldn't keep the characters straight. The story was way too confusing. I not going to continue reading a book I really don't enjoy.

Brilliant storytelling, very well thought out plot and interesting, deep and well developed characters. Great story!

I absolutely adored this book. From the plot to the characters, including the smaller characters, every detailed was beautiful to the point where I devoured it.

read this Goose Girl retelling while I was on holiday and even though I enjoyed it, there was something in the writing style I didn't quite click with. I ended up rating it 3 stars on goodreads (would be a 3.5 though). I'm still unsure if I'll pick up the next book.

So I'm a little disappointed as I was really looking forward to Little Thieves! The story was good and the characters were great but I didn't feel like the world was introduced very well. The story launches straight in almost with an expectation that you know everything so it took me a while to get into the narrative.

What saved this for me really was the complexities that were interwoven in. Owen obviously has a good grasp of the world and the story she wanted to tell - I'm hopeful that if I read this again (or a sequel) I would be more comfortable in the storytelling now that I have some more knowledge.

I liked the premise of the book but I struggled to connect to the characters and get invested in the story. I ended up DNF about 30% unfortunately.

Owen does not disappoint with another charming story set in a fairytale-eque world. Her magic system is consistent, and it was fascinating to delve deeper into the world of her previous books. The story itself is interesting with a powerful and cunning female lead who is delightfully morally grey. If you enjoyed her other works you are guaranteed to enjoy this one as well.

Little Thieves is a fantasy retelling of The Goose Girl. It follows a girl named Vanja who being the thirteenth daughter of a thirteenth daughter was adopted by the gods, Fortune and Death, for she was believed to be bad luck.

I liked the unique story. It had the political intrigue, friendship, romance, and of course, magic. The world building and magic system were set up well, too. The dark fairytale vibes in a German village were so atmospheric. I also commend the diversity and reps included in the story.

However, I didn't love it nor hate it. The things that made me less enjoy this was the slow pacing and I didn't care enough for the characters to be fully invested.

Overall, this book would be a good read for people who enjoy a unique retelling and atmospheric setting.

A big thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for the digital galley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Loved this book, the characters were well thought out and I felt like I really knew them. The story line was gripping and kept me interested throughout. Would definitely recommend this book!

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl . . .

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.

This was a favourite read of mine. I loved the way the author built this world, I loved the depth, the characters, the magic system. All of it was absolutely amazing.

Read full review at our blog - link provided. We'd like to thank the publisher for giving us a copy in exchange for a review!