Little Thieves

by Margaret Owen

I know this isn’t the point of this book review – or any book review, honestly – but I do have to take a second to appreciate this stunning edition that Illumicrate created. I’M OBSESSED. I love the art on the case, I love the texture of the case itself [it’s called a paper laminated case, many know it as “turtleback”], the stenciled edges are beautiful, and I like the background color change on the dust jacket. [If you want to see all of these features, feel free to scroll through my Bookstagram feed here!]

Now, onto the story inside the beautiful book! As I have made a habit of lately, I didn’t read anything about this book before picking it up. I know that that seems reckless and means I’ll likely read books I don’t care for, and that may be true, but I have my reasons, and one of the biggest is that book summaries tend to ruin the surprises inside the book for me. So, it was to my surprise that I recognized some of the foreign words used! In the past, I dabbled in learning German, and, while I’m far from fluent, I still pick up on a thing or two on occassion, and it made my heart happy to read a book with words I at least recognized and could make an educated guess at that weren’t English.

For those of you who like to know the published summaries, you can find one of Goodreads here. Surprisingly, it gives away little, all things considered.

Recommendation: If you’re looking for a good German-inspired tale with morally gray characters that will keep you entertained as it tries to leave you in the dark with surprises? Then this book is the one for you. I loved the book, and it’s very likely I’ll make time to reread it when its sequel, Painted Devils, comes out. Because that’s definitely on my TBR, and my fingers are crossed that Illumicrate will do an equally stunning copy of Painted Devils.

Vanja! Vanja is such a loveable, morally-gray character. The closest I can think to describe her is a combination of Nevernight‘s Mia and Six of Crow‘s Kaz, with less experience – maybe a little kid Kaz or a young Kaz? I love both of those characters, so it’s no surprise I love Vanja. As with most good characters, I was rooting her on and cursing her multiple times throughout the book. I love her relationship with Ragne, and I love the interactions and conversations between her and Emeric. Really, all the characters’ dynamics with each other is just so fantastic. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I loved it!

Because I’m big on not spoiling things in books, Vanja is the only character I’ll talk about before the spoiler line. I hope you decide to give this book a shot and come back to read my spoiler-y thoughts! I love this book so much.

**UNLESS YOU LOVE SPOILERS, PLEASE GO READ THE BOOK BEFORE CONTINUING! EVEN SPOILED, THOUGH, I’M SURE THIS BOOK WILL STILL PLEASE. IT’S SO, SO GOOD! DEFINITELY A 5 STAR READ FOR ME.**

I’m learning that I’m developing a soft spot for morally gray characters, and I’ve always had a love of good banter, which I think Vanja manages.

Emeric – what a complete foil of Vanja, honestly. His character arc through the story was so much fun to follow. Emeric at the beginning of the story is not the Emeric we see sitting on that bench with Vanja at the end. I love what he brings to the story, I love his role in Vanja’s adventure, and I would honestly read another story, all about the “dance” he and Vanja are essentially planning to take with each other.

Gisele. I have mixed feelings about her, honestly. I understand her animosity towards Vanja and why she doesn’t immediately forgive her. I just don’t understand how she thinks what happened to her is equal or worse than what happened to Vanja. But that’s my personal opinion, and I know people will disagree with it, so let’s move on.

Ragne. Oh my goodness, how I love Ragne. She’s a fun, interesting character that throws a bit of an entertaining twist to Vanja’s world. I love her pivotal role in helping Vanja open her eyes to the idea that she doesn’t have to be alone. Honestly, I think Ragne is quite possibly the only reason Vanja changes for the better throughout the story. Her journey is self-discovery is almost as much the reason I didn’t want to put the book down as Vanja’s story. I love her personality, her character arc, her interactions with everyone around her.

All together, Little Thieves turned out to be a five star read for me that I wasn’t expecting. It was one of my last reads of 2021, and I’m so glad I joined the Illumicrate readalong to read it when I did. It helped me push through the other books I had picked up already.