Little Thieves ~ Margaret Owen

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen is a YA fairytale. When she was a little girl, Vanja Schmidt was given to Death and Fortune by her mother who thought her unlucky. Vanja scrapes through life as a maidservant to a princess, but when her godmothers decide that they want Vanja’s lifelong servitude in exchange for raising her, Vanja decides that gifts not given freely can always be stolen. So, when the princess gets engaged, Vanja takes her chance and steals the Princess’ fiance, life and face. As the Princess, Vanja lives a glamorous life but also uses it as an opportunity to steal from the nobility. Then, one heist away from being able to fund her escape from her godmothers, Vanja is cursed to slowly turn into the gems she so loves. Can she stop the curse before it kills her?

This was an impulsive read. I saw a few people raving about it on TikTok and later that same day saw it on the shelf at the library. It was probably fate. About one chapter into the book, I realised I was going to love it.

Vanja is a character that I loved; she felt very complex and real. Vanja is a character that only knows how to survive and that makes her a little bit thorny and mistrustful at times but it also leads to some brilliant character development arcs. The supporting cast of characters is all very complex and unique in their own way which brings so much depth to the story.

This book is a fairytale but one that had a unique premise and very much fits with modern times. Not once did I think that Margaret Owen had leaned too heavily on familiar fairytales, every part of it was something new which made it wonderfully unpredictable.

I really enjoyed this and was a little sad that it was over. I gave it four and a half stars. Whilst writing this review I found out that there is a sequel coming next year which makes me very happy!

C🌙