Blog Tour: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen (Interview!)

Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for LITTLE THIEVES! I’m so excited because today I have an interview with Margaret Owen to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so excited to for you to find out more about it!

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
Series: Little Thieves #1
Published on October 19, 2021 by Henry Holt & Company
Genres: Fantasy, Queer, Retellings, YA
Pages: 512
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, Tumblr

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.

What would you do if you spent the day with Vanja and Gisele? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?

The first thing I’d do would be making sure I had multiple decoy wallets with old/expired cards, just to keep Vanja out of my actual wallet, which would be hidden somewhere. Then I’d probably go see a dark comedy movie with Vanja, and we would probably all be badgered into going on a hike with Gisele. There would be a lot of snacking involved, and none of it healthy.

If Vanja and Gisele were to hang out with characters from other books, who would they be and why?

I think Gisele would probably hang out with Elisabeth from Sorcery of Thorns—they’re both at the Venn Diagram Intersection of Jock and Book Nerd! I think Vanja would only keep the company of someone like Mogget, from Sabriel, who would encourage her worst impulses exclusively.

If there was one fictional place you could travel to for a day, where would it be and why?

Probably Howl’s castle! It’s messy enough to feel like I’m right at home, and I’m sure I’d have some fun souvenirs when I leave!

If you buried a time capsule with three items inside, what three items would you choose and why?

A Nintendo Switch with Breath of the Wild on it, a Detective Pusheen, and a copy of Little Thieves because the hustle transcends time.

What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?

There are a bunch of fun heists and scams that just didn’t make sense for the book, but my favorite was a very simple one by Frank Abagnale Jr. He just dressed up as a security guard, posted himself by a drop box where he knew people deposited checks, and put a sign on the box that read “Out of Order, leave deposits with security guard.” And they did it! Just handed him money! No one asked themselves, how can a drop box be out of order?

What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from Little Thieves?

It’s cheating to say all of them, huh? I think emotionally, there’s a scene towards the middle, where Vanja has to really face her truth, as it were, and I am pretty fond of that. Humor-wise, there’s a scene involving the creative application of breakfast sausage that was very fun to write!

What do you think about Little Thieves? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!