In this novel, it tells the story of Vanja Schmidt, who is the maid of Princess Gisele until she becomes Princess Gisele. This book is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s tale, “The Goose Girl”. In order to survive Vanja did horrible things but I think the readers would feel sympathetic for her since this story explains how the pyramid of power affects all of us. Vanja experiences abuse during her childhood which led her to become who she is today. Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to steal Princess Gisele’s life and become her. Vanja ventures through life as a noble princess and a jewel thief. She does do bad things but it was for her survival. This book also includes love arcs for side characters which I think is pretty cool because most stories will only focus on the main character’s story and not the others. What I enjoyed the most about this book was the main character's growth and I think others would find that enjoyable, too. The book also includes illustrations drawn by none other than the author herself. I find the black and white illustrations very nice and it goes along with the plot. I would rate this book 5/5 stars and I would totally recommend this book to others. I think Margaret Owen is a very talented author and people should read this. You can also read Margaret Owen’s other books like, “ The Faithless Hawk” and its sequel, “The Merciful Crow”. I’m sure these books will also be entertaining. Despite the book being pretty long I think this book beautifully explains Vanja’s story.
About This Book
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.
