Little Thieves- a book that stole my heart- book review

Little Thieves is a must-read for fans of YA fantasy who crave a clever, heartfelt story with a fierce heroine and an equal number of wholesome and infuriating cast of characters

Overall I enjoyed the book quite a lot and I flew through it in a matter of two days. It wasn’t an incredibly long one either, but the author so skilfully managed to make the time fly by all while establishing the characters, a well-executed plot and an atmospheric setting.

SYNOPSIS

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.

• Genres: Young Adult Retellings, Romance, Young Adult Fantasy

• Published: October 19, 2021

PLOT

We primarily focus on our main character Vanja, who as we find out in the beginning itself, is impersonating a princess whom she previously served as a maid for.

The plot is tight and focused, and keeps you on your toes. There’s imminent danger on the horizon, and a fatal deadline looms closer and closer. Yet somehow I loved how time was dedicated to exploring the psychology of the protagonist. The emotional cost of being under constant scrutiny, abuse, poverty, and the absence of unconditional love is huge, and we see the effects of those traumatising experiences in Vanja.

My name was -is- Vanja. And this is the story of how I got caught.”

CHARACTERS

While the plot keeps you on edge, the characters steal your heart.

The progression of Vanja’s character arc is incredibly natural. It is an emotional journey of healing from trauma, abandonment and self-loathing instilled in her by the people who mistreat her.

Even though she would’ve been justified to continue on her path of resentment and revenge (which there’s a caveat to as well), Vanja has always intrinsically been a good person. A person who is forced to be on survival mode all her life, and then called “selfish” for not being “kind and generous” enough. From being a hyper-independent, distrustful, and pessimistic thief with no one to depend on, she gains an eccentric group of people (and creatures) who love her to bits.

When we get to know Vanja’s past, it makes a lot more sense what made her the person she is now. While some part of her rebellious and mischievous nature can be attributed to her personality, those traits were sharpened like a knife for trickery, deceit and fraud by the circumstances of her life. In spite of being dealt the worst cards by life, Vanja’s resilience not only carries her through some truly horrific things, but preserves a soft and fiercely loyal soul underneath the layers of self-defence mechanisms.

“In the world I knew, there were three reasons a person could be wanted: for profit, pleasure, or power. If you could satisfy only one, they used you. Two, they saw you. Three, they served you.”

The chemistry between Vanja and Emeric was really well-done. I was truly invested in the relationship, because it was not just about the attraction between the characters, but how two individuals with such different morals and personalities would fit together.

In fact, Emeric’s character was positively adorable. With his signature glasses, precious notebook and irresistible mix of nerdy and suave, there couldn’t have been a better man to match the intensity and ingenuity of a girl like a Vanja. He’s someone who not only challenges her intellectually, able to hold his own in the troubles Vanja gets herself into, but is the reliable warmth to the turbulent life she has lived until now.

“You’re what happens when an encyclopedia wishes on a star to be a real boy, if that encyclopedia was also an absolute prick.”

The antagonist was truly detestable and infuriating, and made me even more invested in the orchestration of his downfall. From every perspective- as a woman, as a human being, as a reader, everything in me wanted to get inside the book and strangle him.

THEMES

Most of all, the story emphasises the theme of a corrupt class system, poverty, and abuse of power. It is the lack of resources that force Vanja’s family to give her up, and makes her powerless to fight back in the face of the vicious abuse of power and authority by the von Falbirgs, the noble family she works as a servant for.

The refusal to feel the intense feeling of helplessness and powerlessness ever again solidifies into the persona of the Pfennegeist- an uncatchable thief that turns the tables on the remorseless nobles and gives them a taste of their medicine.

The book does not shy away from talking about privilege, and the fact that how easy and convenient it is to be a “good person” when you are privileged. It costs nothing for the rich nobles to throw some coins at an orphanage, indulge in the self-satisfaction of being charitable, and call it a day. It draws a sharp contrast that exists in the lives of people that live in a castle, glamorous and decadent for the nobles, and brutal and endlessly miserable for the servants who serve them every single day.

“I think there are lives that make it easy to be good. Or what most people call good. When you have wealth, status, family, it's easy to be a saint, it costs you nothing.”

The found family trope was done to perfection. The story shows you just how important it is for a person to have a family, not just through blood, but people who you can depend on in hard times. The friends that allowed Vanja to trust them without fear, who would protect her without cost, and not be in hyper survival mode all the time.

THE WRITING STYLE

The humor, the witty commentary that pokes fun at the vain decadence of the rich nobles, the corruption, and the frequent bawdy jokes in-line with the characters’ personalities, all add a lightness to the otherwise heavy themes. Vanja’s biting quips about the nobles’ garish fashion poke fun at their vanity, for instance when the nobles obsessively copy even the most absurd fashion choices of Vanja as a Princess.

The story concludes in the a beautiful and spectacular culmination of the characteristic sleight of hand and con skills of Vanja as a thief, Emeric’s intellect, some good-old brawn and music (a delightful surprise for the readers) from their trusty friends, and a lot of magic to defeat the big bad villain and save the day.

Altogether, with tight, compulsive plot and pacing, characters that capture your heart, and the perfect balance between emotionally wrecking and laugh-out-loud moments, Little Thieves was an incredible YA Fantasy book.

some more quotes

1. “I can't say if you're a good person or not. But the more I know of you, the more I understand that the world keeps making you choose between survival and martyrdom. No one should fault you for wanting to live.”

2. “To the gremlin girls, I would like to tell you something inspiring, but the truth is, when life closes a door for us, it doesn’t always open a window. The good news is: That’s what bricks are for.”

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