Little Thieves

Starred review from August 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* As a child, Vanja Schmidt, was given to the Low Gods Death and Fortune at a midwinter crossroads. Now, almost 17, Vanja is a clever thief who lives by a theory she's deemed the trinity of want: people, she believes, can be wanted for profit, pleasure, or power. With one, you are used; two, you are seen. With all three, you are served. It's in part due to this trinity that Vanja, former maid to Princess Gisele von Falbirg, has stolen Gisele's life--and, thanks to magic, her face--and is impersonating her while slowly stealing enough jewels from nobility to ensure that she'll never have to serve anyone again. Unfortunately for Vanja, a deliciously devious antihero, this means she's also stolen Gisele's tyrannical fianc�. Even more unfortunately, her thievery upsets a Low God, and she finds herself cursed: if she doesn't find a way to return all she has stolen, she'll turn to gemstones. With a pesky junior prefect on her tail, a former princess to find, a chaotically shape-shifting new sidekick, a wedding to avoid, and a ruby growing out of her cheek, Vanja's got her work cut out for her. Owen (The Merciful Crow, 2019) flips the tale of the Goose Girl on its head for a breathlessly inventive, never-a-dull-moment adventure of found family and second (or fourth or fifth) chances. If you're not careful, it'll steal your heart, too.

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Starred review from September 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-A brash "Goose Girl" retelling from the villain's point of view by way of Six of Crows. Vanya, the adopted daughter of Death and Fortune, has been impersonating the blonde and beautiful Prinzessin Gisele for the better part of the year. Using the Prinzessin's status to gain access aristocrats and rob them during high society parties, Vanya acquires a reputation as uncatchable and an alter ego: the Penny Phantom. While trying to steal enough gold to escape her divine godmothers, she accidentally crosses the wrong god during one of her burglaries. The Low God Eiswald curses her to slowly turn into the jewels she loves so much unless she can give back everything she stole-which means finding the real Gisele, not getting caught as the Penny Phantom, and getting out of this curse while all the gods are watching. A cast of fully realized characters are colored by Vanya's sharp tongue and criminal proclivities, making her a fun, and occasionally unreliable, narrator. Packed with heists, gods, and monsters, the Germanic worldbuilding is easily accessible and readers will love rooting for Owen's clever antiheroine with ambition. The main cast is white, with diversity in race, gender, and orientation in the supporting characters, including on-the-page queer couples. VERDICT With Six of Crows and The Cruel Prince as readalikes, this will find an audience anywhere there are fantasy fans. Highly recommended and not to be missed.-Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2021
Part heist, part heart-wrenching coming-of-age novel, this is a new take on "The Goose Girl." An incorrigible thief, 17-year-old Vanja Schmidt's biggest theft was her mistress's life. Displacing K�r-prinzessin Gisele, soon-to-be Markgr�finvon Reigenbach, after arriving in B�ern, Vanja has been masquerading as both Gisele and Greta, the maid, using her newfound access to steal from the elite as the Pfennigeist (Penny Phantom). Sick of being a servant and repeatedly abandoned--first by her mother, then by her adoptive goddess godmothers, Death and Fortune--Vanja's saving up for her escape from the Blessed Empire of Almandy, hoping to outrun Gisele, her thefts, the law, and the gods. Revenge against abusive aristocrats is a bonus. But the stakes rise, the countdown starts, and tension builds as a goddess curses Vanja, the zealous young investigator Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad arrives, and the predatory margrave Adalbrecht returns from battle to rush Gisele into marriage. Irreverent toward immortals and fiercely independent, Vanja must make alliances, apologies, and amends if she wants to survive. Romantic entanglements and malevolent magic complicate matters further. In this vaguely early modern Germanic setting, Vanja and many characters read as White. Pivoting from her innovative Merciful Crow series to retell an often revisited fairy tale, Owen delivers a cynical, sarcastic, devious, damaged, and self-aware antihero, a climactic crime caper, and a twisty legal-political thriller. A lush and lively adventure replete with romance, revenge, and robbery. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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Starred review from September 20, 2021
In this epic fantasy rooted in Germanic myth and culture, Owen (The Faithless Hawk) reimagines “The Goose Girl” as a magic-infused caper—part heist, part adventure, with a slow-burning romance at its heart. Desperate to escape the competing claims of her godmothers, the Low Gods of Death and Fortune, 16-year-old Vanja uses an enchanted pearl necklace to rob the Almandy Empire’s nobility as the Penny Phantom. But when her thefts offend the wrong god, Vanja is cursed to perish by her own greed unless she makes amends for it. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on her imminent marriage to the warmongering Margrave Adalbrecht von Reigenbach—even as insightful Junior Prefect Emeric Conrad arrives to investigate and arrest the Penny Phantom. With nowhere to turn, Vanja must choose her plans and allies carefully, including a feral shape-shifter and the real Princess Gisele, who’s been living in squalor ever since Vanja stole her identity a year ago. Vanja and Emeric prove worthy adversaries who develop a deep connection, while Vanja’s history, which includes trauma, abandonment, and exploitation, makes her a layered heroine in any of her identities. Centering a cued-white cast and variously inclusive secondary characters, Owen’s engaging narrative is at times overloaded with complications, but she nevertheless pulls it together, creating a story to savor that builds toward an emotionally satisfying resolution. Ages 14–up.