I knew I needed to read this book from the moment I read the synopsis and it did not disappoint. We follow Vanja, a common thief who also happens to be the daughter of Death and Fortune. After stealing from the wrong house, she is cursed to turn into jewels unless she repents for her crimes.

I was very invested in her story and growth. Vanja was a fun character to follow because she was morally grey and witty. Not to mention, it’s always fun to follow a thief. I loved her friendships with Ragne and especially with Giselle. Emeric was a good contrast to Vanja and made for interesting interactions between the two. The romance was also pretty cute.

I really liked the writing style and the book was paced well. It did have a lull in the middle but the ending was very satisfying. The German-inspired world was rich and the magic system wasn’t too hard to follow. I don’t know if a sequel is planned but it would be nice to get one, even if it isn’t necessary to continue the story.

Oh my god, this book was incredible and I will be thinking about it for a while. The story, the world, the writing, and the characters were all so good. I cannot wait for more people to read this now that it is out in the world.

Vanja was such an incredible main character becasue not only was she just phenomenal and so easy to love, she was also flawed and definitely made some very questionable choices. I loved how the book was her telling her story, through her POV but also through the fairylike tales that we get throughout the book to inform us of her past and why she is like this. We had Giselle and Regna and Emeric, all of which were incredible, and can we talk about the LGBTQ+ rep with these characters. The demisexual/asexual rep that I thought was going to be much more prominent, it was there but it could have been made a tad more obvious to the reader. However I loved all of the main characters so much and I cannot wait to see what happens to them all in the next book, because I know that it is going to be amazing. Plus, this book had Death and Fortune as very prominent characters and I liked that they were gods but also flawed in their role as mothers to Vanja. I jsut loved all the characters so much because they were all so well written!!!

And the plot was sensational. I loved, as I have already mentioned, the fairytale flashbacks we got throughout the book as not only did it allow us to understand Vanja more but it also helped add to the magical feel of the book. Plus it gave us a sweet cyclical nature t the book but with a brilliant twist after what has happened throughout the course of the book. It was full of magic and drama and danger and romance and it was jsut everything I wanted and more in this book. Also, the last 20% was simply incredible and I loved how it all came together after the bread crumbs that we were being fed throughout the book and then how it was all resolved. Plus the ending was incredible and I cannot wait to see how this book links to the second book becasue I know that it is going to be absolutely amazing. The world-building was brilliant and I loved it so much. The German-inspired world was filled with gods and magic and was just so well crafted! I cannot get over how good this book is.

The writing was phenomenal and I adored it so much. I have already mentioned how much I loved every other part of this book so I will save you from more gushing but holy hell this book was incredible and I just had such a good time reading this book! Seriously, if you love fantasy and fairytales and a great story filled with incredible characters then this book is for you!

Wow!

I loved this book!
This story follows Vanja, who as a child gained two godmothers: fortune and death. But after forced to pick one, she finds her own way through the world by stealing a princesses identity and becomes greedy for more. But during one heist, she is caught and cursed by another lower god...

The premise sounded too good to pass up, and I'm so glad I read this! Vanja is such a funny and hilarious character- she doesn't know when to be serious when talking to death or fortune, and that just adds to her charm. We also meet a shape-shifting being called Ragne who I just ADORED! Her interactions with Vanja were EVERYTHING. Also, Emery who is a junior apprentice detective is on Vanja's case, and I loved the fact that she made him uncomfortable for her own entertainment- it was hilarious!

Overall, really enjoyed this spooky and fast-paced read. The writing was pretty great and I loved the story. Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for an e-arc!!

Oh my god, I absolutely loved this book! It was a little hard to get into to start of with but once I got into the story I was hooked and could barely put the book down! I'm a sucker for villains so hearing that it was told form the "villains perspective" of the Goose Girl tale I knew I would love it. I loved the characters, the setting and the plot. I can't wait to read more of the world!

I absolutely adored Little Thieves. From the very beginning I was hooked and wanted to know what happened next.

It was interesting having Death, Fortune as characters. I loved the interweaving fairytales throughout.

Vanja is a strong character and I loved how she interacted with the world.

All the characters were different from each other but I loved how they interacted with each other.

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen peeked my interest because it is a retelling of the rather unknown Grimm fairytale The Goose Girl and I always really like retellings.

The protagonist Vanja is a servant of Princess Gisele until she decides to steal Gisele‘s life and takes her place. Now she lives among the nobility but at the same time she is a thief and uses every chance to enrich herself. Vanja is a very unlikeable character and the book even starts with “Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl ...” .

Furthermore, her adoptive parents are the personifications of death and fortune and she has to complete tasks for them. And this is also how she encounters the other characters in the story and it introduced several plot lines. While this was gripping sometimes it got a bit too much for me and rather created a distance to the story for me.

There was always a certain eeriness and darkness to the book and you never knew what was going to happen next. Vanja cannot proceeded like this forever and when she crosses the wrong god, she has to face all her wrongdoings.

Overall, Little Thieves was a good fantasy with an intriguing concept and atmosphere, but I couldn’t fully connect with the characters on a deeper lever. If you like fairytale retellings, you can definitely check this story out. 3 stars.

(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Vanja, our protagonist, is a horrible girl. Raised by Death and Fortune, she decides to steal back her future when her godly mothers demand a terrible price for their care.
One heist away from freedom, Vanja offends the wrong deity, who curses her to an untimely end. Vanja must now break her curse and get her freedom, with an overeager junior detective, a sinister fiancé and a feral half-god on her tail.

The story is set in a German-inspired world, with interesting lore involving the gods and magic. The storyline was very creative, but only really started picking up around 40% in. The pacing was a little slow, but the atmosphere throughout was very nice for the fall season - woodsy, dark fairytale.

For me, the highlight of this book definitely were the characters and their development. Vanja is aggressively snarky, clearly imperfect and often unlikeable - yet the author always manages to make you understand her words and actions.
I also really enjoyed the rest of the ensemble cast. They were well-rounded and all the characters really helped to move the story forward.

This book is a retelling of “The Goose Girl”. I myself am not very familiar with that fairytale, but the story was so captivating that I completely forgot that it was meant to be a retelling.

"Little thieves" is a darker fairytale, action-packed and filled with the personal struggles the characters go through. I would recommend this for anyone who is looking to read a more unknown retelling or a fairytale-like story filled with interesting world-building, mystery while being a fun, easy read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book is a loose retelling of the Goose Girl from the Grimm fairytales and follows Vanya, a servant girl who as a princess. Vanya is the goddaughter of the gods Death and Fortune and was adopted by them after her mother gave her up to them. She is a flawed character with tons of wit and is incredibly intelligent.

The story is a mixture of YA fantasy as well as strong themes from the Grimm fairytales with magic, deathly curses and plenty of twists and turns.

There is demisexual and queer rep as well as showing the effects of childhood abuse and neglect without going into too much detail.

I expected a lot from this story but I felt as though there were so many plot lines to follow that I felt as though I couldn’t fully pay attention. There was also a continued usage of words that looked German but wouldn’t translate leaving me feeling as though I was misunderstanding vital parts of the story and making me feel frustrated. I wish a glossary would have been included with this for me to refer back to and fully understand, I feel as though I would have been a lot more engrossed in the story if this was the case.

I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters however I did appreciate their relationships and their storyline. That being said, if you like fairytale retellings and are looking for something different then I think this book is a good option as I haven’t read any retellings that are similar.

Little Thieves is a great read and one that had me intrigued from the outset. The plot and storyline were excellent and well executed and I loved Vanja's character. The characters of Death and Fortune were great and made for some exciting reading. In fact all the side characters were superb and really enhanced the story. The world building was great and I loved the lore and mystery entwined in the story. There was so much to love about this emotional, sometimes heartbreaking, and funny story. A definite author to watch and I look forward to reading more.

{AD|GIFTED} If you're looking for a snarky protagonist with a slightly off-centre moral compass then you need to read this book. The humour is fantastic and the plot had me intrigued from beginning to end. It's also a sensitive exploration of trauma and abuse and felt like such a cathartic experience. Highly recommended.

Definitely of the best retelling ever , little thieves is a ' the goose girl ' retelling but the book is brilliant on its own , with the medium paced writing , amazing characters and and a not so goody two shoes character this book was delight to read .

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Over the last year or so I have been left stunned by the ingenuity behind the reimagining and twisting of classic stories and this book is unquestionably amongst the cream of the crop.

Little Thieves is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm story The Goose Girl told from the perspective of the maid, but it isn’t just your usual “story from the eyes of the villain”.

The adopted daughter of Death and Fortune, Vanja Schmidt eluded servitude to her Godmothers by taking up a role as the maid to the princess of a noble house. When opportunity struck Vanja stole the princess’ identity and life, and has spent her time with her new status stealing from the aristocracy as a means to buy her way out of her fate. However, her carefully laid plans start to unravel when she steals something she shouldn’t have and lands herself a curse from Eiswald, another Low God.
To break the curse Vanja must make amends for her thievery or else turn into a pile of treasure herself. But with Eiswald’s shapeshifting daughter as guardian, the Princess’ shady fiancé pushing for marriage and a junior detective following the trail of robberies, the road to freedom isn’t going to be an easy one.

More than your standard retelling, Little Thieves has made my list of favourite reads of the year. I’m not going to give much away about the overall plot but you can expect heist vibes, lots of action, witty banter, intriguing magic and folklore all meticulously woven around a significant mystery with brilliant twists that will keep you hooked through and through.

There was SO MUCH that I enjoyed about this book but first and foremost I have to talk about Vanja. Our fiery, unapologetic protagonist kicks off the story by swindling the rich and I instantly fell in love with her. From her snarky narration, her quick-whited attitude and sassy quips with other characters, her journey throughout this book was nothing short of entertaining. She’s a character who keeps everything close to her chest but with each turn of the page more and more of her heart is uncovered and you can’t help but root for her.

Each and every single one of the side characters also made this book shine and their interactions and developing relationships with Vanja were especially gold – some of the dialogue had me outright cackling. There’s a slow burn enemies to lovers romance that’ll keep you on your toes and some wholesome friendships and found family content too!

I wasn’t too familiar with what The Goose Girl was about so I skimmed through a summary of it before picking up this book and thus really appreciated the nods to the original tale. I particularly loved that at the beginning of each section of the story there were snippets recounting the primary backstory, providing a link back to the fable as well as helping to add perspective to present circumstances.

Furthermore, Owen’s writing immerses you right into the rich, medieval German setting and the integration of German folklore into the worldbuilding really enhanced the story. I’ll admit the lore and vocabulary did throw me a little at first (the review copy was missing a glossary) but I found myself entranced by the atmosphere and all the magic.

This is a standalone fantasy with an endearing cast of characters that ticks all the boxes and you can bet if Owen ever decides to write other stories with any of these characters or set in this world I will come running.
Final Rating – 4.75/5 Stars

I really enjoyed this ‘Goose Girl’ retelling.
I can’t say I’m overly familiar with the original story but this book a tale of stolen identity, magic and dark adventure.

I absolutely love the use of death and fortune in this story as godmothers to our main protagonist Vanga who is beautifully written. If you love a flawed character look no further, Vanga is deceitfully delicious yet likeable and heroic.

The world building is amazing in this book, lots of detail and law of the world make for a believable atmospheric read and I really liked the magic system at play here.

I did find the first half more of a steady pace, building character backgrounds and connections between characters and smaller side stories but when it picked up it was gripping and I couldn’t put it down!

A must read for dark magic lovers and those who enjoy slow burn romances.

I really really struggled to get into this.

I wanted to love it so much, but I just felt like it was all over the place and the beginning was a huge information dump which just put me off completely. I might just not have been in the right space/mood for it right now.

I would probably try and read it again to see if I enjoyed it.

This book was SO GOOD. I love how it took a somewhat-obscure-but-still-familiar fairytale plot and turned it on its head so many times it was hardly recognizable by the end. Everything about it was so unique and fascinating, and I absolutely adored the characters.

Vanja is a force to be reckoned with, and her dry commentary was a joy to read. I highlighted SO MANY passages, especially the ones that contrasted the vaguely medieval Germany fairytale setting with some very modern phrasings.

Emeric, too, was a delight, especially when he and Vanja forgot to be annoyed at each other while sharing the joy of a chase/investigation and their own cleverness.

Ragne was wonderfully baffled at human customs, frequently disdaining them, and Gisele grew on me by the end, and I hope we get many more of this foursome's adventures.

I loved the taste we get of Death and Fortune and I hope they, too, will show up in future adventures. The villains (minor and major) were quite dastardly and it was so nice to see them get their comeuppance.

The writing is utterly gorgeous, with plenty of Margaret Owen's signature unexpected phrases that are devastating in their simple truth.

This is a story I know I will be revisiting.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an e-arc for review.

Wow! Just wow! This book has been such a good read.

A story that features curses, magical transformations, palaces, a huge mystery, the gods of death and fortune, corruption, poisons and everything you would expect with a fantasy book! This book is also a retelling of ‘The Goose Girl’ (I’m not too familiar with this story)

The story sees a girl called Vanja who has been abandoned to the fate of the God of Death and the God of Fortune. She is trying to escape a life of servitude to one of them by amassing enough money through stealing from the Rich and frivolous nobility. But luckily, she has a cover up, with a very special set of pearls she is able to transform from being a maid to the beautiful Giselle, a princess who is about to be married.

However, living her double life doesn’t always work out, especially when the prefects have been called to sniff around, and you happened to be cursed to break out into precious jewels and time is running out to break it.

The world building is amazing and I haven’t wanted to put the book down. You are transported straight into this mystery, trying to piece the puzzle together just like the characters are. The illustrations and extra details add to the story and the fairytale element is linked in throughout. Despite the main character being flawed you still root for her and are desperate to know what will happen in this dark and magical world.

A great read for this time of year, with corruption, strange happenings and strange creatures. I can’t wait to see what everyone else thinks of this when it comes out!

TL;DR

Slow burn to start with, but keep going! One of my favourites from 2021. PROTECT RAGNE AT ALL COSTS.

I need to get this out of my system right now but when I heard the main character was called Vanja, my dyslexic noggin automatically thought of this:

[gif of Vanjie from Ru Paul's Drag Race]

And now that’s probably stuck in your head as well, this is what you’re in for with Little Thieves:

✨ Imposters 👀
✨ Parents of the mythical variety
✨ Sticky fingers a la Robin Hood
✨ Gemstones. Gemstones EVERYWHERE

Our main pal, Vanja, has had a shite life. Abandoned by her mother in the forest after it becomes apparent that she’s a little bit too unlucky for them, Death and Fortune adopt the little nipper. Now I have no idea what they’d be like as parents. Would Death make weird predictions about mates you brought round for tea? Would Fortune ruin all the surprises by telling you if something was going to go your way or not? Do they both like coffee?

Anyway, this arrangement comes with one major complication – when she turns 13, she must pick one of them to serve forever. Vanja ain’t all about that pops off to work as Princess Gisele’s personal maid in a last-ditch attempt to buy her freedom.

The one thing you should know about Vanja (and it’s probs a bit obvious given the title) is that she’s an excellent thief. Gifted with both powers and deft fingers, she spots a perfect opportunity to turn her fortunes around. And with that, she yoinks Gisele’s enchanted pearls and proceeds to take on the role of Princess herself, casting her pal Gisele aside to live as a commoner.

This is Vanja’s chance to make a tidy profit except there’s one major inconvenience in the form of Junior Prefect Emeric who ruins everything by investigating the robberies. You’d think that would be enough to deal with, but to add to Vanja’s stress, she gets cursed to become her greed. If she doesn’t break it by the next full moon, she’s a goner.

I’m going to be honest – I didn’t like this book at the start. Something about it just didn’t grab me and perhaps it’s because it’s a brand new story or perhaps my attention span was just in the bin that day however it took me a good 40-45% to get into it properly. And then I was unstoppable.

Characters are proper shitlords which we need more of and the world is complex but holy fuck is this a beautiful book once it gets crackin’.

Also massive shoutout to the LGBTQ+ rep which was so fluid and natural I barely noticed. Perfection.

This is a Robin Hood meets magic story and I reckon it will grip many a heart out there.

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

Oh, and I hope Ragne has a wonderful, peaceful life.

I don’t know 4.75 or 5. So let’s say 5

First of all. Thank you, NetGalley for the e-ARC of the book.
Okay but this book has two of my favorite tropes. Found family and enemies to lovers. It has lesbian side characters and some other lgbtqia+ rep.
When I started it I was in a bad and long reading slump. And the book is kinda massive you know.
It can start slowly, but obviously, once you’re in, you won’t be able to let it go. Like you have to finish it.

Yes. There’s a romance. But also a big mystery and myth, creatures, magic. So yes. It was pretty great. And the characters are awesome, and the bad guy? Really scary.

Plus, I think the cover will be gorgeous!

“I don’t know what’s worse: that he’s slipped into my heart like a knife, or that I like the feel of him there”

First of all let me thank NetGalley and Hodderscape for the chance of reading this book in advance.

I absolutely loved it and it gave me Stalking Jack the Ripper vibes, especially because Emeric reminded me of Thomas so much! They are both very sweet and adorable but absolutely firm when it comes to moral and civic rules (not to mention their abiliy at solving mysteries).

Except that Emeric has to change his mind when he meets Vanja. She is everything he has always condemned: a thief. But when he starts knowing her he understands she is just a hurt girl who has never been shown true love in her life. I really appreciate characters like her, because it always brings me joy to see that even if she had a terrible childhood, she is still able to find her own chosen family (not without doing mistakes of course and not without being so sure that she was fine by her own🙈) .

The writing style is so magical, Vanja tells her story as if it were a tale and guides the reader in understanding her soul. I also appreciated the warning the author gave at the beginning of the book:

“I trust you to know your scars”,

Because of course experiences like Vanja’s, of abuse and mistreatment, leave wounds that are impossible to forget and very hard to forgive. The best thing to do of course is to be able to walk away from these situations with the will of finding people that can make you really happy!

Firstly, I am obsessed by the cover. Secondly, I feel slightly empty after finishing this book, and now don’t know what to do with myself… it is very good and it made me feel a lot. It was so well executed, I was fully lost to it as soon as I started reading, and whenever I had to put it down I could think of little else until I had time to come back to it. It’s been a while since a book gave me that feeling, so I could leave it at that and it would be enough, but I’ll tell you why!

Starting with ‘Once upon a time…’ the way it does, it immediately feels like an old fairytale (and is actually loosely based on one – The Goose Girl), and I love any story that personifies great concepts like Death and Fortune, who we’re first introduced to. There’s something so exciting about having these mysterious and incalculable things have physical form, and I was very excited at the idea of them raising a human child together, since the prologue shows a little Vanja being left in the forest by her real mother, who cannot feed another mouth, and Death and Fortune take her in. This comes with complications, though, and with the gods nothing comes without a price, so when Vanja turns 13 they demand she choose one of them to serve in order to keep her in their realm. Vanja, though, has already been living as the servant of Princess Gisele, and rather than submitting even further, she plots to gain her freedom.

When the opportunity presents itself, Vanja steals the enchanted pearls Gisele was given by her mother, and takes the princess’ place, and when we catch up with her in the first chapter, she is acting as Gisele, using her position to rob the nobles around her and earn enough to run away and leave the influence of her godmothers behind. This first chapter is a firecracker, and Vanja is an excellent narrator. She is snarky, she is clever, and she knows the cruel realities of the world. I wanted to chase after her forever, and also wanted to give her a big hug. She’s a really good lead and I think Owen did such an amazing job fleshing her out with all her flaws, fears, and skills.

Vanja’s plans are thrown, though: first, a junior inspector shows up, investigating the robberies she may or may not have committed, then Gisele’s cruel fiancé returns home and sets their wedding for two weeks’ time, and lastly Vanja is cursed by a god of the forest for robbing her subjects, and must undo the curse before she turns completely into precious gems, becoming her greed. While working on all these puzzles before her, Vanja slowly realises she can’t do this alone, so enter the excellent supporting cast of this novel. They’re all so fantastic and each bring something to the narrative! The two main ones are Ragne, the daughter of the god who cursed Vanja and a human man, sent by her mother to watch Vanja – she is naive to the way of humans, so is always direct and creates some amusing situations, but she is perceptive and brave, and becomes Vanja’s first real friend – and Emeric, the junior inspector. Emeric is a wonderful character. I loved the combination of very intelligent and somewhat dorky boy with strong, highly trained enforcer of the law. His and Vanja’s relationship is really great to follow.

As you can see, Little Thieves has a bit of everything, with some romance, some mystery, some magic, and a wonderful found family trope. It also managed to take me by surprise with its final twist, which I really enjoyed! I do have to say, though, that it’s also full of heart-wrenching moments that may be triggers for certain readers, so be sure to check out the warning page Owen has written at the start of the book if you do decide to read it. Overall, I’m so glad I decided to pick this book up, and I can already tell it’ll be one I read again. And I will definitely be reading Owen’s other books, now that I’ve had a taste of her writing. I can’t recommend Little Thieves enough, and I definitely think it’ll appeal to a wide audience, both young adults and older readers, as well as readers across various genres.