Format: Hardcover, 512 pages
Release Date: May 16, 2023
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy
After accidentally starting a cult and invoking the wrath of the gods, a scam artist must fight to save everyone she has ever loved in this sequel to Margaret Owen’s YA fantasy Little Thieves.
When misfortune strikes, the “reformed” jewel thief Vanja manipulates a
remote village for help and in turn, accidentally starts a cult around a
Low God, the Scarlet Maiden. Soon after, her nemesis-turned-suitor
Emeric and a supervising prefect arrive to investigate the claim of
godhood, and she realizes how in over her head she must be. But the
Scarlet Maiden does reveal herself . . . only to claim Emeric as her
virgin sacrifice. Desperate to save the only man she’s ever cared for,
Vanja decides to seek an alternative: bring the Scarlet Maiden a drop of
blood from each of seven brothers for the midsummer feast.
While
the thief and prefect-in-training still have feelings for one another,
Emeric must determine whether Vanja has committed fraud as his final
test for prefect-hood. And as they travel the Haarzlands, a harsh land
far from the rules of the city, the past that Vanja barely remembers
comes into full view and she fears a future that does not require her to
keep running.
With vengeful apparitions, supernatural fraud,
and ravenous hellhounds, readers will not be able to put down this
Bavarian-themed YA fantasy, the thrilling sequel to Little Thieves.
"A child's eye fears the painted devil, but the elder wields the brush" - Almanic proverb
Margaret Owen's Painted Devil is the second installment in the authors Little Thieves series. After taking down a corrupt margrave, breaking a curse, and finding romance with a junior prefect named Emeric Conrad, 17-year-old Vanja Schmidt, the god daughter of Death and Fortune, is looking for a new home. It has been 3 months since Vanja started wandering from city to city trying to find a purpose after years of being punished and tortured by a psychotic bitch. But soon the jewel thief-turned reluctant-do-gooder resorts to her old tricks, and in the process, invents a god named the Scarlet Maiden after she dumps her rubies in a river.
Now that lie is growing out of control, especially when Emeric arrives to investigate whether or not a fraud has been committed by Vanja. Emeric is soon claimed as a virgin sacrifice by the Scarlet Maiden. Vanja is given an alternate to keep Emeric from being her sacrifice. She must find seven brothers and collect a drop of blood from each of them before midsummer feast. While the thief and prefect-in-training still have feelings for one another, Emeric must determine whether Vanja has committed fraud as his final test for prefect-hood.
And as they travel the Haarzlands, a harsh land far from the rules of the city, the past that Vanja barely remembers comes into full view and she fears a future that does not require her to keep running. While trying to stop the Scarlet Maiden from taking Emeric, Vanja must also deal with a Prefect Emeritus of the Godly Courts who stands in judgment or her actions. Vanja faces imminent arrest her for profane fraud if she can't prove that the Scarlet Maiden is truly a God.
Vanja also learns that she does, in fact, have a family, and that family has been searching for the Thirteenth daughter of a Thirteenth daughter for 14 years. Even though her mother clearly though she was the reason for all her problems, the back story tells a slightly different story, and one should really feel angry for what happened to Vanya from when she was 4 to escaping Hell. Vanja is a character who has plenty of the snark, moral ambiguity, and hidden wounds, especially when she finally meets all her brothers and sisters and extended family. Vanja would do anything to feel loved and to feel wanted, but her challenge is to deal with larger than life expectations which may drag her down one more time.
For me, the ending should have been the end of the series. Vanja has found the impossible; happiness, but the author has chosen to do something that I refuse to spoil. I even dropped my rating half a point because of said ending but I will try to read the sequel unless it takes another 2 years to be released.
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