The thirteenth child of a thirteenth child. What an ominous moniker to have as a four year old girl. Which is why Vanja’s birth mother relinquished little Vanja to the Low Gods, Death and Fortune, who enslaved her to a life of servitude.
Little Vanja didn’t have it easy. Vanja grew up in a position that she hated. As such, Vanja vowed that no matter what, she would leave her current status for a hopefully better life even if it meant she had to become a thief. And so little Vanja grew up to be a master thief and a master liar. Until one day, she stole from the wrong person. As punishment for her crime, Vanja is cursed to die a slow death by turning into the very precious gems that she stole from others. And the only way to break the curse is to “make up for what she has stolen.” But it’s not as easy as it sounds, because Vanja has taken much more than precious stones…
The dust cover for Little Thieves really drew me in and I probably had some pretty lofty expectations because of it. Those expectations for the most part were not met. For a lengthly novel of 500+ pages, it was a slog to get through. It felt like extra fluff was added to get to specific word count. Not a good feeling. I almost gave up at the 50% mark, but hey, I got that far, I might as well finish it.
The plot was interesting and that’s what probably got me through it, though I skimmed through the fluff. The backstories behind the front story really came together and made the novel palatable. But, you could get easily lost if you’re not paying attention.
The characters are well developed but I found the world building to be a little off the mark. Perhaps it is because a more concentrated effort was put into the character building and fleshing out their details.
It is easy to get lost in the novel because of the German terms and deities. But in the physical copy of the book, there is a glossary of terms that was very helpful in navigating the landscape.
Overall, a respectable read. But I’m sure that there are many YA Fantasy fans that would just fall head over heels in love with this book. A two star, okay read for me.
I received a finished copy of Little Thieves from the publisher through Bookish First. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
Little Vanja didn’t have it easy. Vanja grew up in a position that she hated. As such, Vanja vowed that no matter what, she would leave her current status for a hopefully better life even if it meant she had to become a thief. And so little Vanja grew up to be a master thief and a master liar. Until one day, she stole from the wrong person. As punishment for her crime, Vanja is cursed to die a slow death by turning into the very precious gems that she stole from others. And the only way to break the curse is to “make up for what she has stolen.” But it’s not as easy as it sounds, because Vanja has taken much more than precious stones…
The dust cover for Little Thieves really drew me in and I probably had some pretty lofty expectations because of it. Those expectations for the most part were not met. For a lengthly novel of 500+ pages, it was a slog to get through. It felt like extra fluff was added to get to specific word count. Not a good feeling. I almost gave up at the 50% mark, but hey, I got that far, I might as well finish it.
The plot was interesting and that’s what probably got me through it, though I skimmed through the fluff. The backstories behind the front story really came together and made the novel palatable. But, you could get easily lost if you’re not paying attention.
The characters are well developed but I found the world building to be a little off the mark. Perhaps it is because a more concentrated effort was put into the character building and fleshing out their details.
It is easy to get lost in the novel because of the German terms and deities. But in the physical copy of the book, there is a glossary of terms that was very helpful in navigating the landscape.
Overall, a respectable read. But I’m sure that there are many YA Fantasy fans that would just fall head over heels in love with this book. A two star, okay read for me.
I received a finished copy of Little Thieves from the publisher through Bookish First. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.