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

Truly Excellent

Everything about this book from character to world building was so great. I loved it.

Highly recommended

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

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!

This is my favorite book

This is truly my favorite book ever. I read it last year & have recently discovered I like to have an audiobook read me to sleep. Def going in my rotation of comfort audiobooks. The narration is great

It's just ok

Ehhh.... this book was entertaining enough, but not great.

The pros:
- The world is interesting. It'd make a decent setting for a tabletop RPG with a little fleshing out.
- The author seems to care about the world being diverse in terms of sexuality. There are gay and lesbian characters, and the existence of trans people within the world seems to be mentioned.
- The cover art is nice.
- The narrator does a serviceable, though not excellent, job.
- The end ties up with a neat little bow.

The cons:
- It's verrrrryyyyy YA. Think of some fantasy YA stereotypes. They're here. The main character is brooding, sees herself as damaged and tough, and is thus so independent (really, more stupidly prickly than independent), isn't yet 17 but is somehow still an amazing badass in terms of her abilities as a thief and con woman. We're told she's a great liar, yet few of the lies we see are good or convincing. She says she's not pretty. But she's never described in ways that imply she isn't at least normal looking. Not all of these things bother me- I knew I was choosing a YA book, and I don't mind all the tropes. But if you're more used to nuanced fantasy books, this one is going to seem shallow and trope filled to you.
- It's predictable. The person who you think "I bet they'll be the love interest" does turn out to be the love interest. The bad guy? Well, you know he's the bad guy because the narrator tells you. The nobility are all vapid and cruel (save one). At one point a character expresses a romantic interest in another, and it's easy to guess who in spite of little setup. There's a quirky bff, but lone wolf main character won't call her a friend until later in the book (I think it's meant to be poignant, but it's not). The curse is very deus ex machina. So is the quirky bff who arrives with it. The love interest is a nerd... but he's a cute nerd (surprise!).
- There are these interludes that explain the story... as a fairytale type story. For example, it'll say "Once there were 3 maidens..." and then it describes roughly what actually happened in the story. These are used to give background, as well. But they're not very effective. It just feels like a way to rush through telling us backstory without having to *show* it to us.

Ultimately, it just lacks a lot of depth. The author does a lot of telling, very little showing. Because of that, there isn't much dramatic tension. She says someone is bad, and sure enough they are bad. There are some unbalanced reveals, too, that come seemingly out of nowhere- a character proclaiming they've known something for weeks and yet not really behaving as if they did. That sort of thing. As a reader, you don't get to find out much, because it's either so predictable you guess it immediately or the narrator just tells you.

This isn't an "I want those hours of my life back" bad book. It's just not a particularly good book, either. I found myself frequently daydreaming and having to re-listen to portions, because it just didn't hold my interest. The background world was more interesting than the characters or the story itself. It's just ok.

My favorite story of 2022 by far!!

Such an amazing story! I loved every second of it and Saskia's narrative was superb! I was skeptical on how the author could turn a short little fairy tale into a long story from the "villain's" perspective but I was pleasantly surprised at how she expanded the story and charmed me into falling in love with each of the characters.

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.

Saints and Martyrs!!

This is a Perfect book!

It had magic, and myth, and mystery, humor, love and self discovery all woven together in perfect balance! It’s like an ensemble cast! The characters and their relationships are complex and flawed and beautiful! And SASKIA MAARLEVELD! … I am going to go collect everything you have narrated! What a Masterclass in character work and storytelling!

Great story

This was a great story. Definitely would be good for most ages too. I’m 31 and really enjoyed it but it’s tame enough that I would let my 11 yo read it.

Keep going

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