Reviews tagging 'Death'

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

42 reviews

chrysanthxmum's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and War

bri__'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!!! Honestly, I was extremely intimidated by the size and overall vibe of this book but I was intrigued after the first chapter. The writing is phenomenal, the art is stunning and the characters felt like genuine people. There were many plot twists, actual laugh-out-loud moments and a very unique concept. I'm so impressed at how well done this was and I am incredibly interested in reading Painted Devils. I had to focus in the beginning to get used to the world-building and glossary words, but once I was 10% into it, I could not put it down. I refuse to hear any criticism on this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

callistag1's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death and Pedophilia

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Vomit, Death of parent, and Abandonment

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Genocide, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

linblythe_pub22's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

alexiatormen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The humor wasnt always for me, sometimes it broke the imersivo but still its a great book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

blewballoon's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Normally I struggle with books where the main character, especially if you're in their perspective, is unlikable. I found Vanja compelling despite her severe flaws, and I had a feeling I'd enjoy following her character journey. I was right. I also found myself getting very immersed in the setting and growing mystery. I loved the group of characters that came along for the ride and pushed Vanja to grow. I felt like the ending was rewarding as it brought different plot points together. I enjoyed the portrayal of the gods. I found myself giddy to read more, and it's that excitement to get back to the book that made me rate it 5 stars. I listened on audiobook and the narrator was great. I was a little worried because the only other book I had listened to narrated by Saskia Maarleveld was one I didn't enjoy, but the problem clearly wasn't the narration. This book is technically the start of a series, but it can be enjoyed as a standalone in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I didn't think I would like this book so much! (But isn't that how it always goes with really good books?) Vanya's motivations in the novel were based off of self preservation which I could completely understand given the situation she was put in. The scene where Emeric accuses her of killing Hubert was GUT-WRENCHING to say the least. I could feel her terror, her sorrow as she was chased throughout town, as everyone she cared for (besides Ragne) turned on her. When Ragne spoke up for her (the first person in her life to ever do so) and Vanja sobbed her heart out (as I sobbed with her) was so incredible. The apologies from all the characters after the fact (but especially Emeric's wonderful apology) felt very sincere and genuine and made me wish for that similar kind of closure in my own life.

Vanja wasn't a perfect person by any means but she was funny and resourceful and she cared so damn much for the people around her. Her love story with Emeric was perfect. The deceptions and betrayals in the novel were timed fantastically. It was overall a very wonderful story and I can't wait to read the second/third novels.

There is one gripe I do have with the novel. I had read maybe a third of the book before it's revealed that Giselle is a lesbian and while I found no problem with this, I did feel like all the queer representation was pushed to the back end of the novel. I could be entirely wrong about this but it felt like all the mentions of trans people, lesbians, gay people, etc were all mentioned in the last third of the book and was mentioned nowhere in the first two thirds. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention but I usually do for books that I like so I doubt I would've missed anything. If anyone has an instance where queer people were mentioned before Giselle tells Vanja she likes women then please let me know.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, and War

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

breaklikeafish's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Am I getting too old for YA?

While Little Thieves is a great book, I didn't love it as much as I could have. Some of my criticisms are at least somewhat justified; others line up very well with something I have been suspecting for some time now: at the ripe old age of 23, I might finally have grown out enjoying books targeted at teenagers.

The book starts with a prologue that sets the atmosphere for a story that is just a bit too original to be called a fairy tale retelling but with enough references to one of my favorite Grimm tales to make me squeal in delight several times.

I especially enjoyed the Falada reveal at the climax. Looking back, I probably should have seen the talking horse coming since it kind of is the most memorable part of the fairy tale (I had nightmares about that as a child), but it caught me completely off guard and I loved it.

Vanja, the protagonist, gets rejected by her birth family and adopted by two so-called Low Gods; but despite this very fairytale-esque origin story, she has a lot more personality than your stereotypical Grimm's maid. I enjoyed her introduction a lot. The first few chapters set up some important themes of the book perfectly, and also already gave the reader a glimpse of the development Vanja would presumably need to go through to reach her fairy tale ending. I found the mysteries in Little Thieves surprisingly intriguing for a YA book that focuses mostly on personal fulfillment.

Sadly, after this very strong start, I felt like the book dragged for the entire first half. I still liked Vanja's character, but her adamant refusal to let anyone help her, while realistic, kept any meaningful relationships from developing in the first half. I sometimes feel like I read solely for character interactions, so I found it increasingly hard to care about the plot at all.

The other thing that bugged me was Vanja's narration. There were many witty comebacks and fourth wall breaks that I'm pretty sure I would have found funny a few years ago. Now, it just threw me out of the tale for chunks of time. This is probably the main reason I would recommend Little Thieves to actual young adults and not, well, people like me, who are not quite the target audience but refuse to let go of an entire genre for the sake of growing up. Seriously, I loved Vanja even through her darkest moments in the book and would gladly forgive murder, but whenever she gloated about pulling off a successful trick, I just could not stand her.

I also found the ending to be incredibly cheesy, but I honestly simply don't enjoy happy endings as much as I used to. I guess it is fitting for a fairy tale.

There were, of course, also things about this book I loved. I think more fantasy books would benefit from weaving in LGBTQIA+ representation as seamlessly as it was done in Little Thieves. Most of the time, it was no big deal and just casually happening in the background, and the few times the issues were talked about, it was done respectfully and to give more insight into the characters (

Emeric not wanting to kiss Vanja, the discussions of Gisele's sexuality

). The characters were all lovely and I wanted to adopt them, and the love stories made me giddy and excited as if I was the one having a crush.

This is, by the way, how I like my enemies-to-lovers: actively trying to murder each other repeatedly even after they presumably develop romantic feelings. Lastly, I appreciate that the big bad was defeated not by murdering him, but instead in a court case. Murder does not solve anything, and the mechanics of the court of the Low Gods were very interesting.

All things considered, I'm glad I took the time to read Little Thieves, if only because I got to know Emeric, Gisele, and all the other amazing people in it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Fatphobia and Homophobia