Little Thieves

By: Margaret Owen

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

The little thief steals gold, but the great one steals kingdoms;

And only one goes to the gallows...

Vanja Schmidt knows no gift is freely given, not even a mother’s love. Abandoned to Death and Fortune as a child, she has scraped by as a lowly maidservant with her quick wits and the ability to see her godmothers’ hands at work in the world. But when they demand her lifelong servitude in exchange, Vanja decides that gifts not given freely...can always be stolen.

When an opportunity rises to steal a string of enchanted pearls, Vanja seizes it, transforming herself into Gisele, the princess she’s served for years. As the glamorous princess, Vanja leads a double life, charming the nobility while ransacking their coffers as a jewel thief. Then, one heist away from funding an escape from her god-mothers, Vanja crosses the wrong god, and is cursed to turn into jewels herself. The only way to save herself is to make up for what she’s taken - starting with her first victim, Princess Gisele.

A wicked retelling of “The Goose Girl", Little Thieves is a delightfully witty YA fantasy about the fickle hands of fate, and changing the cards we’re dealt.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

©2021 Margaret Owen (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

This book caught my attention in 1 chapter

Beautifully narrated. A captivating story of thieves, goddesses and trickery. I loved the pace and story itself.

10/10 would recommend

So yummy and fun!

This was an absolute delight !! Oh my god I'm so in love!! I read lots of YA books and enjoy them but rarely do I rate them 5 stars but this was just so fabulous. Highly recommend.

Let ‘Little Thieves’ Steal Your Heart!

I have rated most of my recent reads at 2-3 stars, and was starting to think it was a ‘me’ problem … then I read Little Thieves, and was overflowed with joy.

A retelling of a little known fairy tale I’d never heard of, the story centers on Vanya who is morally gray to put it mildly. She has had to choose what she did to survive, and has faced violence and betrayal at every turn. Those things have colored her views and actions.

The story finds Vanja posing as a princess facing marriage to a cruel and power hungry tyrant, and falling into more and more trouble as she tries to extract herself from this situation. It is a wonderful story to watch unfold with loads of great characters.

Owen does an amazing job weaving a tapestry of a medieval world laced with magic and whimsy, full of characters and settings you can easily visualize and that all make sense. The depth of characters and their emotions is stunning, and I finished the book with a smile and a tear. Highly recommended.

I found myself sucked in almost immediately

Loved every second of it. Found myself staying up until 2 am because I was so enthralled.
Love the magic system as well as the court system and the way the Gods/Religion work.
Loved all the main characters as well

Creative

I enjoyed the world, mythical figures, and system of justice. Very different take on some tales.

Wonderful addition to the rewritten fairytale YA world

I loved the story (admittedly I’ve been on a rewritten fairy tale kick lately), and how quickly I got drawn into the story. Several times I found myself just sitting outside my house in the car, listening to the story because I just HAD to hear what happened next! That definitely doesn’t happen with all books. The narrator, Saskia Maarleveld, was the perfect choice here and there were no little pacing quirks or anything that some narrators have that pull me out of the story. I have no idea if a sequel is planned for, but I would certainly get it!

Highly recommended

Highly recommend this book on tape. Very good voice acting and story. Was engaged the moment the store began.

Keep going

It was slow to start for me but so worth it. Great story good narration.

Smart, fun twist on a fairytale

What an excellent read!

The pacing was flawless. The story pulled me in right away and kept me engaged.

The characters were witty and clever. I can’t stand stories that rely on dumb decisions or trivial misunderstandings to move the plot forward. This book completely avoided that with well-developed, highly capable heroines. No cliches here.

Prose was beautiful and the performance was incredible. I’m so glad I found this book. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series!

5 stars

I really enjoyed the story. The Characters, plot. everything was a good reading time. I loved this and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read something fun and witty.