A review by breaklikeafish
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

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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