Vanja stole my heart and I need it back
Okay let me just begin this review by talking about how much I enjoyed Margaret Owen’s plot and writing. That way I can end this review with a love letter to Vanja. Little Thieves has a plot that is absorbing. It unfurls like a beautiful tapestry with gilded thread. The amount of twists and turns will keep you saying, “I’ll stop after this chapter…no this chapter”. This is a true story, it happened to me. I had to fight to put the book down because I had to figure out what was going to happen.
This is my favorite “Goose Girl” retelling because I feel like Owen leans heavily into the class division between the servant and the princess. Because we’re supposed to believe the best of nobility? NOPE. While reading, I have so many notes which are just me excitedly recapping events that happened and being like, “OMG WHAT”. Again, this is a direct quote from my notes. And Owen tells a compelling story that not only makes you feel like you’re unraveling the mystery, but that you are part of the story.
This is my favorite “Goose Girl” retelling because I feel like Owen leans heavily into the class division between the servant and the princess. Because we’re supposed to believe the best of nobility? NOPE. While reading, I have so many notes which are just me excitedly recapping events that happened and being like, “OMG WHAT”. Again, this is a direct quote from my notes. And Owen tells a compelling story that not only makes you feel like you’re unraveling the mystery, but that you are part of the story.