Little Thieves

Little Thieves follows Vanja, a confident, self-assured, and talented thief cursed by a God to slowly turn to gemstones.

I love, love, LOVE everything about Margaret Owen's newest young adult fantasy. The character development of this book was phenomenal; Vanja slowly turning from an overly-confident, mostly emotionless 17-year-old to an emotionally adept young adult with friends and loved ones, whilst absolutely OWNING IT the entire time. We also get to watch her recover from past trauma, heal scars, and build new relationships. (Check trigger warnings, as there is discussion and description of child abuse throughout the novel.)

I also personally enjoyed that the romance was significantly more of a sub-plot rather than an exceedingly prominent theme like many other modern-day fantasy romance novels. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was not there, or even hardly noticeable - for it was there, and it was noticeable. In fact, it was very well done, the love interest becoming one of my most beloved characters as the book progressed. However, if you are a reader who enjoys a fantasy romance with emphasis on the 'romance' aspect, this may not be your ideal read.

Despite the character remaining in one city for majority of the novel, Owen also expertly portrayed magnificent worldbuilding through characters' talk of distant battles and war crime, and beautiful descriptions of this world's fashion. The politics, magic and characters' names all assist in gathering enough information to correctly state that this novel is based off medieval Germany - a unique yet FANTASTIC setting that enhances the wonder of the book overall.

The theme of medieval Germany is also prominent where the gods are discussed throughout the story. Vanja, having been abandoned at a young age, was taken in by the two most important gods of this world - Fortune and Death. The portrayal of the two gods is amazingly executed by the author, adding another element of medieval Germany.

Overall, Little Thieves is ideal if you enjoy a strong female lead, fast-paced plotline, and healing of old emotional (and physical) scars.

Happy reading!