
Little Thieves - Little Thieves (Hardback)
Margaret Owen (author)Published: 19/10/2021
Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl . . .
Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love. The adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, Vanja has long made her own way in the world as the dutiful servant of Princess Gisele. Until a year ago, when her otherworldly mothers demanded payment for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back . . . by stealing Gisele's life.
With the help of an enchanted string of pearls, Vanja transformed into her former mistress and took her place, leaving the real Gisele a penniless nobody. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming the nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Until, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to turn into jewels, stone by stone.
With a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiance, and an overeager junior detective on her tail, Vanja has just two weeks to pull off her biggest grift yet, or she risks losing more than her freedom - she could lose her life.
In this delightfully irreverent retelling of 'The Goose Girl', Margaret Own crafts an unputdownable tale about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 9781529381696
Number of pages: 512
Weight: 752 g
Dimensions: 238 x 164 x 48 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Margaret Owen has done it again, yanking me between surety and nail-biting anticipation the whole way * Brittney Morris, bestselling Author of Slay *
With Six of Crows and The Cruel Prince as readalikes, this will find an audience anywhere there are fantasy fans. Highly recommended and not to be missed
* School Library Journal, starred review *A lush and lively adventure replete with romance, revenge, and robbery * Kirkus, starred review *
Owen flips the tale of the Goose Girl on its head for a breathlessly inventive, never-a-dull-moment adventure of found family and second (or fourth or fifth) chances. If you're not careful, it'll steal your heart, too * Booklist, Starred Review *
Masterpiece of storytelling... This is YA fantasy at its very best * Armadillo Magazine *
Little Thieves really does have all the elements for a truly memorable fantasy fable. It's a book for anyone who loves classic fairytale retellings with hear-stealing characters and a thrilling cat-and-mouse adventure at its heart * Culturefly *
Margaret Owen has written my favourite fantasy novel of 2021. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys fairy tales, murder mysteries, heists and clever twists * Reach Plc Regional *
Fantasy fans will love this YA reimagining of Brothers Grimm classic Goose Girl * Heat Magazine *
This book spools out a plot you think you've seen before but then delights in gleefully wrong-footing you. A perfectly delightful Picasso ... will leave you chock-full of joy * SFX *
A great read for this time of year with curses and a range of terrifying creatures to keep you spooked to the end * Reach Plc (BirminghamLive) *
A sparky and irreverent reimagining of Goose Girl, the German fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, Little Thieves is rich with detail and zippy dialogue... I wasn't prepared for quite how much I loved this book * Culturefly - Best Books of 2021 *
Margaret Owen has clearly thrown all her ideas at the wall to see what sticks and, amazingly, not only have they stuck but they've formed a Picasso * SFX *
Thrilling and laced with frightening magic and irreverent humour * Metro *
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“Almost a four start read, but not quite”
Little Thieves is the story of a girl called Vanja. She's the thirteenth daughter of a thirteenth daughter - aka bad luck incarnate.
When Vanja was just a kid, her mother abandoned her into the care of Death and...
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“Beautiful read.”
This book is something completely unique… Brilliant fairytale-ish YA book. I can’t compare it with anything I’ve read before, maybe brother Grimm collected fairytales, but that’s simply due to the Germanic roots of... More
“A slow starting fairytale with amazing character development!”
Vanja is the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, but was made to become a maid to the Princess Gisele. As Vanja finds there is a cost to being the goddaughter of two Goddess’ she steals the life of the Princess to make... More
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