Holy Terrors - BookWyrm

560 pages

English language

Published April 1, 2025 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

ISBN:: 978-1-250-83117-0
Goodreads:: 197364659

No rating (1 review)

It's been nearly two years since Vanja brought down the cult she started, and she’s still paying the price. As the Pfennigeist, she bucks the law in order to help the desperate and haunt the corrupt all across the empire—and no matter what, she works alone.

But an impossible killer is tearing through royalty, and leaving Vanja’s signature red penny on every victim. Suddenly the Pfennigeist is no longer a folk hero but a nightmare. When even the Blessed Empress falls, the empire’s seven royal families must gather to elect her successor within a matter of weeks, or risk the collapse of reality itself… even though it puts every house in the killer’s sights.

Vanja tells herself she’s wading into the royalty’s vicious games only to save the name she made, and the loved ones also in jeopardy. But the Order of Prefects has also put their sharpest official on …

It's been nearly two years since Vanja brought down the cult she started, and she’s still paying the price. As the Pfennigeist, she bucks the law in order to help the desperate and haunt the corrupt all across the empire—and no matter what, she works alone.

But an impossible killer is tearing through royalty, and leaving Vanja’s signature red penny on every victim. Suddenly the Pfennigeist is no longer a folk hero but a nightmare. When even the Blessed Empress falls, the empire’s seven royal families must gather to elect her successor within a matter of weeks, or risk the collapse of reality itself… even though it puts every house in the killer’s sights.

Vanja tells herself she’s wading into the royalty’s vicious games only to save the name she made, and the loved ones also in jeopardy. But the Order of Prefects has also put their sharpest official on the case, the one who swore he’d always find Vanja—until she broke his heart. Journeyman Prefect Emeric Conrad may no longer be the boy Vanja knew, but they’ll have to work together one last time to have any chance of surviving the deadly catastrophe coming for them all.

With bloody conspiracy, sinister magic, and old adversaries closing in, it will take everything Vanja has to save not just the people she loves, but the future she’s fought for. In this thrilling final chapter of the Indie Next series Little Thieves, New York Times-bestselling author Margaret Owen shows us the pain and beauty of choosing which demons to face, and which to forgive.

1 edition

lastblossom reviewed Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen (Little Thieves, #3)

Bigger in scope that the previous books, Holy Terrors ties up all the the loose threads in a satisfying ending, even without the smaller, snugger tones that made me love the first book so much.

No rating

"Little Thieves" is one of my favorite books of all time. Its sequel "Painted Devils" is... not. So how does the third and final book in this trilogy stack up? I'm happy to say we're closer to first book energy, and it's excellent.

Buckle in folks, this is a long one! Yes, longer than the first two. Vanja's back, and she's doing her best to put good into the world the only way she knows how - by thieving and tricking her way through society, this time in service of the poor and needy instead of herself. Does it work? Mostly! Up until someone starts killing royalty, and leaving her calling card behind. To no one's surprise, a certain Prefect Conrad is on the case, and they're going to have to work together to find the real culprit before the entire kingdom falls apart (perhaps literally).

The stakes and the …

"Little Thieves" is one of my favorite books of all time. Its sequel "Painted Devils" is... not. So how does the third and final book in this trilogy stack up? I'm happy to say we're closer to first book energy, and it's excellent.

Buckle in folks, this is a long one! Yes, longer than the first two. Vanja's back, and she's doing her best to put good into the world the only way she knows how - by thieving and tricking her way through society, this time in service of the poor and needy instead of herself. Does it work? Mostly! Up until someone starts killing royalty, and leaving her calling card behind. To no one's surprise, a certain Prefect Conrad is on the case, and they're going to have to work together to find the real culprit before the entire kingdom falls apart (perhaps literally).

The stakes and the magic are significantly higher this time around, with magical items, spell-slinging, and multiple gods involved in a very twisty plot that connects all the loose threads from the previous two books. And when I call it a twisty plot, I mean it. This thing has got LAYERS, packed with red herrings, alternate pathways, and so many surprises. The scale of it as also much bigger. The first book felt like the fairy tale retelling that it is. A dash of magic, but a compact world with a single advancing plot. This book feels like we hit the gas HARD. In order, the books are basically Iron Man, Iron Man II, Avengers Endgame. It's big. It's epic. It doesn't hit the same vibes as before, but it does feel like the natural conclusion of the arc that the first two books set up. It's a satisfying end to the story, but the overall feel is definitely bigger.

And like Endgame, we have a huge cast of fan favorites! Ragne, Gisele, and Joniza are all very welcome returns, and several new characters are an absolute delight. The return of some less scrupulous characters is also at hand, all with machinations of their own.

And that just leaves our lovelorn heroes. Do they make up? Will they finally be honest with each other? Will they finally be honest with themselves? Will it be anything like all the frustrations of book 2 that made me so upset? Yes and no! The romantic drama continues to unfold, but unlike teen awkwardness of Book 2, we fall more into second chance romance patterns. Sniping, bickering, and all sorts of ~feelings~ are the order of the day, but unlike the previous volume, Vanja and Emeric remain focused on solving the mystery as well. The dreaded miscommunication rears its head more than I'd like, but they're at least smart enough to listen to other people this time around. They've both got a lot to unpack, and the unpacking begins with the help of friends and some frank self-reflection. Also a bit of familiar-sounding poetry. (Which makes me realize that... is Margaret Owen sneaking pop culture lyrics into all her books and I only just now noticed? Oops.) But yes, it turns out the kids are alright, and fans of this pairing should be pleased with the outcome.

ALSO. The illustrations in this one are my favorite so far. Beautiful work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!