Little Thieves

by Margaret Owen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adored this book and the characters in it. The story kept me tense and questioning what would happen next the whole way through. I’ve read retellings of fairytales before, but the author really kept that quality intact in the way this story was told. The characters were well written and every one of them have very significant parts to play that made them that much more engaging.

All My Thoughts

May contain spoilers.

This book pulled me in from the very beginning. I loved the main character Vanja. She was witty and charming and flawed in the best ways. She was well written and her back story of struggle and suffering really made you sympathize with her plight throughout the story. Her being betrayed by pretty much all her friends and family is a completely understandable reason to be a thief that only looks out for herself. The fact that her behavior also makes me want to shake her is a great character trait that I enjoy. As the reader, we can see what she doesn’t in terms of where her life is heading with the choices she’s making, but she has to figure it out on her own. That journey is fantastic and frustrating.

This book also has a really fun cast of supporting and secondary characters. Everyone took me by surprise. This is one of those books that presents them as Vanja knows them in the moment, then we get to learn along with her how wrong she was about her assumptions about each one. It kept me constantly engaged with everyone and everyone was very relevant to Vanja’s journey.

The world development, myth, and history of the book was really interesting as well. It was a bit different than my usual for a fantasy and I enjoyed something that felt a bit different

Overall

This book had a strong story with a wonderful cast of fun and engaging characters. Whether you value a well-developed and rich backstory, or deep relevant characters and character arcs, this book has something for everyone.