Little Thieves

By: Margaret Owen

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

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 god-mothers’ 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

Lovely performance, good worldbuilding, story a bit corny at times

I really liked the voice acting performance. I liked the worldbuilding, especially the inclusivity if you are a trans reader, which I am, so it was a very nice read in that respect.

The part that was corny was just the “heist montage” vibes. Some emotional battles were too quickly and easily won, so they didn’t have the impact you’d expect for some moments.

Would make a good anime!

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.

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

Amazing book and narrator!!

This is my second read through and I loved every minute of it. Usually I speed up audiobooks, but the narration is just too good on this one for that! Can’t wait to read 2. ❤️