The eerie tone and twisty plot make Little Thieves a must read for all Young Adukt fantasy fans. As compelling as merciful crow!

A spooky, captivating Gothic style story that transported me to a truly magical world - my students will adore this one!!

Once upon a time, on the coldest night of midwinter, in the darkest heart of the forest, Death and Fortune came to a crossroads."

Little thieves is set in a German inspired magical land, with appearances from low gods, nachtmar, böslings and magic from witch ash.

The story follow Vanya, the God daughter of Death and Fortune, as she masquerades as  prinzessin Gisele, but when she steals a protection charm from a low god, she is cursed to "become her greed".

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

This story was somewhat difficult to get into originally just because of the depth if world building that Owen includes but by about 27% I was hooked, constantly wanting to read more and obsessed with the characters.

The humour in this ranged from subtle to explicit, both enough to get a chuckle from me, and the characterisation shone through brilliantly. You could count on Vanya for some wisecrack in the face of probable death, you could count on Ragne to be oblivious to the worst things, and you could count on Death and Fortune to embody to disappointed mother role.

"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."

The action however was consistently fast paced and immersive. Vanya has grown up a thief and the reader is taken along with her as she makes her prescene as the pfennigeist known. Similarly, the fighting had me on the edge of my seat every time. .

“I think there are lives that make it easy to be good. Or what most people call good. When you have wealth, status, family, it’s easy to be a saint, it costs you nothing. I can’t say if you’re a good person or not. But the more I know of you, the more I understand that the world keeps making you choose between survival and martyrdom. No one should fault you for wanting to survive"

However, my favourite part was without a doubt how the character relationships developed. (Might be a slight spoiler here) It felt authentic to listen to Vanyas disgust and bargaining at her growing affection for her original enemy, but watching her accept this and everything that comes after was enough to make me OBSESSED with their story and what happens next. Furthermore, Owen remembers the side characters, creating some of the most fleshed out 3d characters I've read in a while. I wont spoil anything but the dynamics Owen created were excellent.

"I have been an orphan, a servant, a thief, and a princess.”
"Who are you now?"
"Vanya"

Yet, what stuck with me the most was potentially how well Owen delved into the heavier and more heart wrenching topics. Vanya is a flawed character but as you learn more of her backstory you understand why. Owen neither shied away nor romanticized, but the desperation that is depicted through vanyas character is so authentic the reader has no option but to sympathise and vouch for her win.

This was overall a pleasant read but it didn't wow me. The first half is more interesting and things got a bit boring interesting second half. Alsom I found the misuse of German phrases Infuriating.

Oh wow. This is not what I imanged its so much better than I expected. The Book is action packed and full of emtiomal. From mystical creatures to dynamic relationships.

Oh goodness, how I loved this runaway carriage of a book! You cant help but like the main character, despite all the shady stuff she has done, and as you get to know the major players, you come to love them too. The style is smooth going, and the story grips you as you have no idea what will happen next. I loved this, and can not wait for the next book.

Wonderful, amazing and such an emotional rollercoaster!! A brilliantly written book with action, adventure and a kick ass main character who you can instantly relate to.
The story follows Vanja, a 16 year old maid and her journey to becoming a princess, liar and thief. Vanja is sent with her lady to her fiancé’s castle where along the way their roles get reversed....After nearly a year of living like a princess it’s time to leave but different forces are afoot to stop Vanja and leaving may no longer be an option.
There’s magic, action and lots of twists and turns to keep you reading waaaay longer than you should!

I really enjoyed Little Thieves by Margaret Owen and would recommend it to ages 13+ as there’s mild language, mild violence and trauma from attempted assault. It is all written in context and fits with the story well.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for kindly providing me with an eArc!

Another great book from M. Owen! Amazing!!! I’m so grateful that I received an early copy so I could read and review this masterpiece!

This brilliantly bewitching YA fantasy from the bestselling author of The Merciful Crow was absolutely addictive—definitely a contender in my top ten reads of 2021!

Vanja Schmidt, abandoned by her mother and raised as the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was a dutiful servant,until a year ago. When her otherworldly godmothers’ demanded she pay the price for their raising her, she decided to steal back her life by Usurping the life of the Princess she served. leaving her a penniless nobody.

Her new role proves lucrative, charming nobility (and emptying their Coffers in the process). But with one heist left before making her getaway, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is left cursed—turning slowly into jewels for her greed. With only two weeks to break the curse and soo many people on her trail, she must now orchestrate her biggest con yet,if she wants to survive.

I absolutely loved this deliciously dark fairytale-esque fantasy which had me hooked from start to finished.I did get a ‘Prince and The Pauper’ vibe, with a cat burlgar,Kaz Brekker-style twist, which I absolutely loved.

Our protagonist, Vanja (the jewel thieving, Princess imposter) was an incredibly well written and complex character—her motivations seem selfish at first, but as her story unfolds we glimpse into the childhood experiences that have shaped her life choices (and her need for freedom). The other characters were equally as complex and I couldn’t help but adore Ragne,the shapeshifting Demi-God and her naivety in the ways of humans was endearingly sweet.

I enjoyed the enemies to lovers type romance,which was really sweet—and Vanja’s love interest was absolutely adorable in his awkwardness.

I must warn that there are discussions of child abuse,neglect, navigating abusive environments and the emotional trauma of attempted assault, which may be a trigger for some people.

Overall a beautifully written YA fantasy recommended to fans of dark fairytales and The Merciful Crow.

Thank you to Hodder&Stoughton and Net Galley for the ARC

I have a few thoughts about the book, so I'm going to bullet point them.

Pros
- A fantastic premise, the blurb pulled me right into the story
- Supporting characters were well fleshed out
- Quirky funny moments were interspersed well
- Romance was hot, hot, hot

Cons
- A lot of flowery prose that said very little in a lot of words
- Intermittent language changes in both spoken language and in describing things is a little jarring when you have to stop and look-up the word to get better context.
- I agree with poster below, the ages were off-putting as 16 is young for the content.

Vanja is the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, but was made to become a maid to the Princess Gisele. As Vanja finds there is a cost to being the goddaughter of two Goddess’ she steals the life of the Princess to make her fortune and be free to live her own life. But when she annoys the wrong God, she is forced to face her greed in order to survive.

This book is very fairytale like and I really enjoyed that it was a different kind of story - think Six of Crows mixed with The Bear and the Nightingale. I enjoyed all of the characters and the character development was amazing. We see Vanja grow as a person and not even to break her curse. Vanja is a very relatable character too, with real life problems and I loved how strong she was - and I don’t just mean badass, but facing up to her problems. I think I would have liked another POV, maybe Gisele’s, just to get a feel of the other side of things. It’s hard to explain without spoiling, but there’s two main types of settings, the castle and the orphanage, we just mainly see the castle scenes.

I really struggled with the beginning of this book and sometimes it felt the author got a bit bored writing paragraphs; which made me feel the same way. The world building could have been slightly better, mainly with explanations of the otherworldly creatures and what their purposes are. For example, I felt Poldi wasn’t explained the best and if I hadn’t read the Winternight Trilogy, I would have been very confused. I also feel some more background information of Vanja’s life with the Goddess’ would’ve been a nice addition.

The book picked up around the 30% mark for me and I really enjoyed how the book was sectioned with little fairytale stories. The plot was really well written and I loved how different it was. This book is written in first person and I, personally, love books written in this style because I feel a stronger connection with the characters and I feel the writing flows better; making them an easy read.

Overall, if you love Six of Crows and the Winternight trilogy, you’ll love this; but something was just missing for me. This book doesn’t come out until October so I would probably pick up a copy just to see if anything had been added to help in the areas I found lacking.

Actual rating 3.5⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Hodder & Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I fell in love with this book from the moment I saw the cover! It’s a gorgeous cover for such a nice book! I liked the story so much and I found it to be quite different from the usual YA fantasies that talk about magic. The characters were solid and well developed and I also liked the authenticity in them. The book has great humour and enough sarcasm to make me love it! The emotions and romance through out the book were so well done that didn’t feel “fed” to the reader or just necessary for the plot. What I also liked in this book was the LGBTQ representation that was subtle but present throughout the book. Lastly, the world building and the use of magic were created masterfully to give the reader the necessary information to understand the plot but not excessive details to be tiring. I five star rating for this book is well deserved!

This book is something completely unique... Brilliant fairytale-ish YA book. I can’t compare it with anything I’ve read before, maybe brother Grimm collected fairytales, but that’s simply due to the Germanic roots of this book.

Autor uses same things as L.Bardugo did in her Grisha trilogy, inserting altered “german like” words, and of course there isn’t a vocabulary explaining them. I would’ve preferred if the words weren’t altered.

Vanja is a thirteenth daughter of the thirteenth daughter, which is believed to be a bad luck. Her mother gives her away to Death and Fortune. That are raising her as their own daughter. Vanja has been stealing from bourgeoisie for some time, until one day, when she steals from the people that are protected by the Low god and she gets cursed... She has to return everything that she has stolen, otherwise she will die... But what if she has stolen more than just objects...

I won’t be spoiling, but this curse!!! One of the weirdest but at the same time coolest curses I’ve read about. The whole book is so interesting, with the descriptions, characters, there is even a shapeshifter (my favorite character here). Main character is also overcoming mental trauma, which makes this book more complex.

I would highly recommend on reading this book if you’re looking for something new and different from the mass market.

I received this as an ARC on NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

Actual rate: 4.5

Good:
- The whole entire character database. I elaborate later. Trust me its so good.
- gorgeous fantasy and magic with some unusual elements
- look, I've already recommended to 6 people, so that shows you how much i loved this.

Bad:
- It did feel a little packed in at times, like so much plot occurred that I didn't have time to take it all in before moving on. Personal preference though.

This book was so fun! I really loved the REPRESENTATION!!!!!! A god character with they/them pronouns (genderfluid), lesbian and bisexual women as main supporting characters and just general attention to rep throughout had me so enthralled, and also in love. I did shed a little tear at the godly pronouns to be honest. I also loved the plot! I wont say more for spoilers but saving the kingdom and detectives and magic are just... perfect. If you speak a little german (Im fairly sure it was german), there were references/single words throughout this, in the same way as Serpent and Dove kindof? It was fun for me, but if you speak none it may be a little confusing.

After the beginning where we jumped right in, I was a little disoriented that we didn't get much setting establishment, but overall it worked through by the end. It was also a little fast paced for my liking, but i could keep up.

Representative, twisty and magical.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves books with fantasy magic, and a REPRESENTATION (I've said this so many times, you can tell its exciting!). Also, if you like fantasy creatures and a well developed and integrated fantasy setting this is the book for you.

Overall: 4/5

3.5 stars

Little Thieves.. where to begin with this one? Let me preface this review by stating that I just had finished reading Owen's The Merciful Crow duology, which I absolutely adored, and wanted more. That being said, I had a difficult time getting into this book, but when I finally did, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Let's start with the pros:
-chaotic, demisexual MC who has never done anything wrong in her life, ever (except like, once or twice)
-adoptive moms that may or may not be lower gods and don't fully understand human nature
-sapphic demigod who is an absolute cinnamon bun, but could and would also kill you
-stealing from the bourgeoisie
-complex interpersonal relationships
-overcoming trauma
-super intriguing structure

So, if that many things went right - why didn't the book appeal to me at first? Well, the nation that Little Thieves takes place in is called Almandy, a country that is quite heavily based on old-timey Germany. That entails most of the names, the snippets of the native language that we get and many locations also being based on German. Now, I am not German myself, but German is still my mother tongue, and that's what made the first part of the book somewhat uncomfortable for me to read. Most of the vocabulary was directly lifted from German, other words were slightly altered and just looked super wrong to me, and a few words didn't resemble German much at all. This is super nit-picky, but it really had an negative impact on my reading experience, so I thought I'd include it in my review! I think I would have preferred if Owen either just decided to use German completely, or she come up with a language based on German - this mixture of both methods didn't work for me personally, but I think it wouldn't be a big factor if you're not familiar with the language. It certainly didn't help that the book practically started with a scene where the MC introduces us to tons of the aristocracy by name.

That being said, around 20-25% in, I was able to shake that discomfort for the most part and could really begin to enjoy the story for what it was. As mentioned above, I really appreciated how intricate all of the character's personalities were, how morally grey their actions ended up being as a result. Vanja was a very compelling protagonist and seeing her struggle with her trauma and the way she has dealt with it in the past is great. I really enjoy the way the story unfolded, somehow becoming a whodunnit (or more like, howdunnit) while still keeping up those fantasy elements.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend this one if you're looking for a fantasy standalone, ESPECIALLY if you're looking for casual queer rep and a demisexual MC!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for giving me the chance to read this book ahead of it's release!

The wit and snark in this book was everything!! I've loved all of Margaret Owen's other books so i knew i would enjoy this one just as much. I wasn't disappointed one bit.

This book was everything i wanted and more. It is a book i will reccommend to all my friends and will be getting a hard copy once released to add to my collection.

I can usually tell if I'm going to enjoy a book from the first few chapters. With Little Thieves I knew I was going to love it from the first page.
I'm not sure the best way to go about writing this review, since Little Thieves is without doubt the best book I've read this year. I’ll attempt to keep gushing to a minimum, but no promises.

I’ll start with the characters. Every single one of them was fantastic. The second I was introduced to the main character, Vanja, I knew she would end up being one of my favourite literary characters and I was absolutely right. I adored everything about her. We need more characters like Vanja, at times she was selfish and mean, but that made me love her all the more. I think authors are often afraid of writing female characters who aren't “nice”, but I'm bored of reading about nice girls! I want to read about girls clawing their way up to get what they want.

You could have the best main character in the world but if the supporting characters are weak then the story will inevitably fall flat. This wasn’t the case with Little Thieves, and Owens did a masterful job of creating wonderfully multi-dimensional characters that I fell in love with. Each one was complex and had their own motivations, which made for fascinating reading as you couldn’t guess what was going to happen next. My only teeny, tiny criticism of this book is that the characters were a smidge younger than I felt they should be. Age was important to the plot for a few reasons, but I wish the characters could have perhaps been seventeen-going-on-eighteen, rather that sixteen-going-on-seventeen. This is personal preference more than anything because I'm in my mid-twenties and just think of sixteen-year-olds as incredibly young, but it didn’t really detract from the story- just made me feel old!

Any and all romance in the book was done really well and never felt shoe-horned in or rushed. I have to give Owens the credit she’s due when it came to diversity in this book. There was no token representation here. I was especially impressed with the LGBTQ representation, and loved how not only were there LGBTQ relationships between main characters, but there were also side-characters who would mention a same-sex wife or husband casually. There was also a genderfluid character who was specifically asked which pronouns they wanted to be referred to by. Diversity like this is so often lacking (especially in fantasy) and I really loved how easily it was including (and done properly!) in Little Thieves.

The plot of this book was fast-paced, action-packed, and absolutely brilliant. I never found myself getting bored as there was always something exciting happening, and I couldn’t put it down. There were twists that I didn’t see coming and moments that made me put the book down and briefly scream into my pillow. The world-building was masterful and Owens wove together a stunning world of politics, Low Gods, curses, and thieves. The magical elements in this book really made it something quite special, and every aspect of it felt so original but also somehow familiar? It was totally unique, but if I did have to compare it to something it would be Six of Crows as it shared that immersive world-building element.

I could talk about this book and how incredible it was all day, but I fear everyone would get bored of my rambling, so I shall wrap up the review here. I so rarely award a book five stars (fewer than three so far in 2021) but this more than deserves that rating. I've immediately gone and ordered Owens’ other books because I loved this one so much and am desperate for more of her stunning writing. I just know that this is going to be a favourite of so many people once it’s released, and I can't wait to see the finished copy as I'm sure it will be beautiful. My favourite book of 2021 so far and one I highly, highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Little Thieves is a brilliant balance between young and new adult, following Vanja Schmidt, impersonator of Princess Gisele, goddaughter to Death and Fortune and on the run from almost every cursed version of herself (be that magical or personal) to try to get her future back.

This was an excellent single-sitting read! Vanja… grows on you. She runs a double life as a princess and a jewel thief, which appears incredibly lonely and, as such, is an initially prickly individual (to both the reader and those she interacts with). The cast of side characters (Emeric, Ragne and Gisele) are incredibly rich and only bolster Vanja’s excellent character development. They were incredibly well-fleshed out – I adored this book, its world and its characters, there’s a reason they work so well together.

The worldbuilding was truly brilliant, weaving politics, ritual magic, Low Gods and usurpers into a sarcastic, hilarious and emotional tale. Owen’s storytelling is incredible, balancing a kingdom and its wider lore with an excellent mystery. It was emotional, it was heartbreaking and dramatic…. and funny!

How many ways can I say that I loved this?

This is a must read and a pager turner wrapped in a gorgeous world with an excellent cast. Highly, highly recommended.

My thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Margaret Owen for this ARC!

So I completely forgot to review this the other day when I read it - in one sitting, may I add. But I can honestly tell you I have not been able to stop thinking about this book!

- the premise was honestly incredible. the world building, the setting, the layers! I honestly could talk about this world forever.
- I really liked our characters and although initially our MC was unlikeable, she definitely developed throughout the story and I honestly bloody loved her in the end.
- I loved the whole aspect with death & fortune as her godmothers and our side characters - ragne, gisele were great!
- the tension between banks and emetic was honestly SIZZLING.
- the ending. that’s it.

I could honestly read 10000 of these books with these characters and I want more of this german fantasy world!

1000% recommend for fantasy romance lovers with amazing world building and incredible writing. I definitely am going to look at this authors backlist.
<I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Little Thieves is the story of snarkily affable swindler-slowly-going-straight Vanja Schmidt and the misadventures of her merry magpie band of morally superior sort-of-mates, rooted in a mesmerizing storybook landscape pulled from Germanic lore that abounds in ritualistic magic, malignant realm-stealing machinations, and personality-rich personifications of gods high and low. Burning to clear out of the constraints binding her as goddaughter of death and fortune, Vanja's cozening capers and cheeky cons get her caught up in a bejeweled curse, a tight corner that's compounded by her tumbling into the traps of a conspiracy in the crook-ridden castle she's claimed...and complicated all the more by the cat-and-mouse chase with a carping, conscionably buttoned-down junior bureaucrat she brings upon herself with chagrin. Little Thieves's energetic plot plays out with ensorcelling panache and its pages are populated with endearingly earnest personages and violently pernicious evil-doers; Vanja's plucky voice is a perfectly-pitched equilibrium of pith and plain-spokenness, and her eventual penance and vivacious payback are as evocative as her emotional tribulations and the personal ties she testily endeavours to patch up from prologue to end.

thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for kindly passing on this arc! 💫