Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

25 reviews

jasperdotpdf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

"I cannot tell you how many principles of knife safety you are violating right now.""Where's your sense of adventure?"
"When it comes to stab wounds? On indefinite sabbatical."

I don't know what it is about the year of our lord 2023 but I keep reading books that completely rip my heart out with how seen they make me feel.

Little Thieves was so incredibly good and it had me hooked from the very first page. This book truly delivered on everything I could wish for. It had a compelling, slightly unhinged main character acompannied by a delightful cast (I would like it to be known that I would die for Ragne), an incredible romance, so many absolutely hilarious lines as well as moments that absolutely broke my heart.

“For all my schemes and façades and artifice, I am not prepared in the slightest for the simple, devastating intimacy of being believed.”


This book has one of the best depictions of trauma I have ever read about, and I cried real tears at multiple times throughout reading this because it struck such a chord in me. Vanja is such an amazing protagonist, she's witty and competent, and it's just so fun to read about her. But she's also traumatized, and it is just as organically woven into her characterization as any other part of her. The way hear fears bubbled up, the way her internal monologue is so clearly influenced by her trauma and not what she actually wants to be thinking, the fact that she can't help but listen sometimes and self-sabotages, the way people keep showing up for her regardles... No one talk to me I'm not okay.

"There's something bitter about parting with someone who had a hand in who you are now; it's even bitterer when that hand left scars."

I also thought her relationship with Giselle was incredibly compelling. Their relationship is so complicated in so many ways. They grew up together, they were friends, they were also servant and lady and they failed and betrayed each other. Seeing these two characters whose wounds are so intrinsically tied to each other learn how to get close again, to try and forgive each other was so interesting. Yes, they both hurt each other so much, but that's not the end of their story. It was just really nice to see characters who are linked through trauma and pain attempt to heal a part of that together, because it is rarely that simple.


“I want him to stay like this. Close to me, touching my face feather-light, like I am something precious, I am worth taking care. Like I deserve to live without wounds, not despite them. I want this moment trapped in amber, so I can hold it tight when I need it most.“

Onto more cheery matters, I'm absolutely obsessed with Emeric and his dynamic with Vanja. He is such a nerd and they are so stupid for each other and I adore them. I love how their relationship develops from Vanja severely underestimating Emeric, to them becoming adversaries, to them being in love. Vanja's love language being pickpocketing Emeric is probably one of my favourite parts of the novel, as well as her very endearing descriptions of him.


"All in all, he gives the impression of a collection of billiard cues that unionized to solve crimes."

In conclusion, this has quickly become one of my new favourite books. I fell in love with the characters, the humour, the magic and the heartbreak in Little Thieves, and the time it'll take for me to get over how good this was should probably be measured on a geological scale. 
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r_a_bell's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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marleywrites's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

Margaret Owen, I love you forever for writing this book. I’m writing this review after reading this book for the second time in preparation for Painted Devils. 

Vanja is incredible. I adore Emeric. I could not create a more perfect duo. Add Gisele and Ragne to the mix and you’ve got the perfect conniving crew. 

This story had action, adventure, sleuthing, chaos, and beautiful romance(s). It features a queer normative world. It has magic and gods and politics. It has thieving and scheming. 

This story made me cry both times I read it. Vanja is such a strong character, I love her and I see so much of myself in her story and her fears and her hopes. She is an excellent example of how to write PTSD in characters, without glorifying or romanticizing their traumas. 

Emeric is possibly one of my favorite book boyfriends ever. I’ll leave it at that! 💛

I cannot wait for Painted Devils! I’m posting this review 8 days from the release date!!
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cassie_roberts's review against another edition

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funny 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

I absolutely loved this book, it took me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions the whole way through it.  The book is a wonderful re-imagining of the Goose Girl that is beautifully written, well-paced, and extremely well-thought-out. Despite its length and complexity Little Thieves never lagged for a second. 

This story was happy, sad, bitter, sweet, frustrating, and wholesome in a way that was thrilling and impossible to put down. The humor, wit, and banter are well-written and perfectly executed to have you laughing out loud at the most unexpected moments. 

The characters are diverse, witty, charming, morally grey, righteously independent, and full of growth. The story follows Vanya, the goddaughter of Death and Fortune. Vanya is the horrible girl at the heart of the story. She is morally grey, she steals lives and she exposes thorny truth. She is positioned as someone who will do anything to survive but she may surprise you yet or not if you love her character  like I did. 

Each relationship whether it was romantic or otherwise in the story was developed in such a way that it felt real. You got to follow along as characters developed their thoughts and feelings towards one another and it all made sense. 

The world itself was incredible. It was atmospheric, dark and mysterious. The story is told like a fairy tale and it had me hooked. The book setting has heavy Germanic influences from the setting, to the food and the language used throughout the book. The books magic system has gods, grimlings, kobolds and general creatures of nightmares. As well as Perfects who are humans connected to the Godly Court who can use witch ash or witch oil to perform magic to protect against the grimlings or to help heal injuries but it comes with a price as most magic does. Overall the magic system is intensely intricate and intriguing and I completely loved the high fantasy nature of it. 

I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book - Painted Devils 😍😍
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diorra's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.25

It was a fun read. I love the protagonist and her humor and the adventure element was very fun. The world was very magical and the world building was great. It's really charming and the characters are wonderful. I find Vanja very relatable and i understand her feelings completely. Yes she can be happy for others and she cares but she's bitter, kinda selfish, and she does want attention as she was neglected so much. She also craves other's validation and really wants to prove herself. Her development was great. I also loved the romance sub-plot. My only complaint is that some parts in the beginning bored me. It's not like things didn't happen, lots did. I just didn't fully connect with the characters before. I liked the ending though. This book also has great representation of queer characters and non-binary characters. 
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mpbookreviews's review

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adventurous emotional tense 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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aformeracceleratedreader's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This was a surprisingly heavy story using folktales/fairytales and the typical princess imagery as a backdrop to a sinister situation rife with magic. It's a tale of growth, of hurt and healing, of reclaiming autonomy, and ultimately of justice. Seriously enjoyed it but def recommend anyone to check out content warnings first.
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quillify_'s review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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terrik_'s review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

4.25

I haven’t been a reader of the YA genre for a while, mainly because I think most books do not delve in-depth into their characters. Little Thieves, though, was exactly the opposite. 

For a YA book, and as a book in general, I loved the complexity of Vanja’s character. There are literally so many parts to her. First her actions can come off as childish. But when we get to know her backstory, I came to sympathise with her, wanted to protect her, and came to really hate some characters in the book. 

The romance in this book was so refreshing to read. It was necessary for the plot to move forward and it helped to unravel the last few layers to Vanja that really showed us who she was as a character. I also enjoyed that there was a gradual build up to their romance that made it feel more real (for lack of a better word). 

Apart from the character developments in this book, I would say that the events that took place were all well spaced out. Everything had its own time and place. 

That said, I think that the world wasn’t built up as strongly as it could’ve been. We are never really given a crash course of the sort about how humans coexist with the gods and other spirits. We don’t know how magic works and who has them. I didn’t mind it that much, but there were gaps that made me go ???.

The reason why this book doesn’t get a five star rating for me is because Vanja’s character doesn’t seem to really match her age. At 17, she draws butts for fun and she seemed too shy with the topic of sex for someone who’s lived such a hard life. (And, well, at 17, sex wasn’t a topic I shied away from). 

Overall a great book!
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sarahaf712's review

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5.0

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