Books On Our Radar: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
Little Thieves is the newest dark fantasy by one of my favorite new fantasy authors, Margaret Owen! I was a massive fan of her previous duology, The Merciful Crow, which was one of the most unique dark fantasies I’ve read. Let’s talk cover, wow this art is so perfect (artist), I can’t wait to have it on my shelf, and it really fits the tone and the fairytale retelling vibes. Just stunning! So clearly I am super excited for this new take on the lesser known The Goose Girl fairytale, but this time with extremely morally grey characters, magic, heists, antiheroines, slow burn romance, and based in a Germanic world where nonbinary and queer characters are completely ordinary. Sounds like my perfect standalone fantasy, and if it sounds that way to you too…highly recommend preordering!
Be sure to check out the preorder offer (see below) of the incredible art character cards, by none other than Margaret herself, Little Thieves releases on October 19th! You can also preorder a signed and/or personalized copy from Third Place Books (add in order comment your request) and that will come with exclusive art prints that are different from the preorder incentives!
Little Thieves
by Margaret OwenPublished by: Henry Holt & Company
on October 19, 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 512
Audible
Goodreads
Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...
Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love--and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.
The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.
Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.Margaret Owen, author of The Merciful Crow series, crafts a delightfully irreverent retelling of "The Goose Girl" about stolen lives, thorny truths, and the wicked girls at the heart of both.
