ARC Review: Little Thieves (Little Thieves #1) by Margaret Owen
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Series: Little Thieves #1
Author: Margaret Owen
Published October 19th 2021 by Hodder & Stoughton
Goodreads Synopsis
A scrappy maid must outsmart both palace nobles and Low Gods in a new YA fantasy by Margaret Owen, author of the Merciful Crow series.
Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...
Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.
The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.
Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
When she was four years old, Vanja was given to the God's Death and Fortune as their goddaughter. She learnt how to rely on herself from a young age, and thought, when she was 13, that she had found her place as the friend and servant to the beautiful Princess Gisele. But soon that was disproved, and she discovered she was little more than a whipping post for Gisele, to take her punishments, and even abuses when Gisele is betrothed to the wicked Margrave. Vanja can't face that future, so takes fate into her own hands, stealing the magical necklace that makes Gisele so beautiful, and masquerading as the Princess by day, and the Pfennigeist thief by night. Just when she thinks she will have enough money to flee her godmothers - who are demanding she picks one to serve forever - the Margrave returns, the real Gisele comes out of the workwork, a junior Prefect starts to investigate the case, and a whole matter of magic beast appear. Vanja may have bitten off more than she can chew with her latest theft - and the stakes have never been higher.
I was immediately drawn in by the cover and synopsis for this book, and when I realised that it would be the November Illumicrate book, I couldn't wait for my finished copy to arrive to dive in - especially with how glowing the early reviews had been. I went in completely blind, and didn't even know this was a retelling (of The Goose Girl, I think) until I looked a GR when I was finished. From the very first sentence, I was hooked. Vanja was such a great heroine - who really wasn't a hero. She was dark and morally grey, who stole to survive - even stealing the life of her 'best friend'. She's never been able to rely on others, and learnt that lesson the hard way, so was extremely prickly when she met new people. But soon, her walls started cracking and it was a joy to see her open up to Ragne, Emeric, and Gisele, and allow herself to relax and be part of something, rather than be alone. It also helped that Ragne's mother, Eiswald, placed a curse on Vanja that she had to resolve in less than 2 weeks or she'd turn into the jewels that she often stole. Honestly, the plot line was so twisty and turny, I wasn't sure what to expect on the next page. And, how much of a slow burn was that romance?! It was one of the best written romances I've ever read, and I'm desperate to read Painted Devils, because I need more! My first book by this author, but definitely not my last!
Dates Read:
December 11-21 2021
Rating
4 Stars
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