Reading Little Thieves by Margret Owen (Again)

If you have ever talked to me about books, and I mean ever, or even if you’ve just read my last blog post on the Well Read Book Blog (“Rereading To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo”) you definitely have heard me mention Margret Owen. Specifically, her Little Thieves duology (soon to be a trilogy as of April first, but let’s not get technical here). So this might come as no surprise but, I love Margret Owen’s novels. 

Recently, I got to revisit Little Thieves for about the fifth time out of happenstance. And I know, I know; two blog posts in a row about rereading books? Yep. I’d say I’m sorry but I’m really not because somehow this book manages to get even better every single time I read it! But, enough about my obsession with this story.

Little Thieves is a young adult fantasy novel set in the Blessed Empire of Almandy, a fictional kingdom with a heavy influence from French and German fables and plagued with political corruption, undistributed amounts of mass wealth, and monsters of all shapes and sizes, all of them dangerous. The novel follows the story of a ghost, a princess, “Gisele-Berthhilde Ludwig von Falbrig, Margravine of Bóern, and former Prinzessin-Wahl of the Blessed Empire of Almandy,” and a handmaiden, Marthe Schmit, as they try to escape the maw of the guillotine, a ravenous fiancé, and the fate of a terrible curse… and who all happen to be the same person. 

Vanja Schmit is many things. She is the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, the thirteenth daughter of a thirteenth daughter, and, all around, bad luck. However, what she is not is a ghost, a princess, and a handmaiden… not that that’s ever stopped her from trying.

Her job was simple, after all. Well, as simple as breaking into the vaults of the nobles of Bóern, leaving behind her calling card, and escaping into the night while still maintaining her appearance of the three things she is not, is. Which actually turns out to be a hell of a lot of work. Who would have thought. But that didn’t matter. Because if there was anything in the world Vanja was, it was a great liar. 

Afterall, she only needed to go on two more heists before she could escape forever. Away from Bóern. Away from her godmothers. Away from Marthe, from “Gisele-Berthhilde Ludwig von Falbrig, Margravine of Bóern, former Prinzessin-Wahl of the Blessed Empire of Almandy,” from the ghost. So she could be whoever she wanted to be, whatever that was. So she could finally be free. So she could buy a little farm in the middle of nowhere where no one knew who she was. Maybe she’d buy a horse. Maybe five.

And so, Vanja lied.

Until she couldn’t anymore. 

Until a “Junior Prefect” found out a little too much about Marthe. Until the princess’ warmongering fiancé returned to marry his betrothed. Until the ghost accidentally angered a low god who cast upon Vanja a dreadful spell. 

As a price for her greed, Vanja was to be reduced to pearls and rubies, to embody her greed inside and out. By the end of the fortnight, she would know the price of being wanted. And then she would die, a painful, dreadful, and sparkly death. That is, unless she could find a way to reverse it… by making up for what she stole.

Whatever the hell that meant.

If it isn’t already apparent, I love this novel. Little Thieves is probably one of my favorite books, like, ever— end of story. I highly, highly, highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, to anyone who likes sarcastic humor, to, really, anyone who just wants to try reading something new. I’ve read this book like five times through at this point and believe me when I say, I’d read it all over again. There is just so much to unpack with this novel that makes it a joy to read every time. But that’s enough from me. Thank you for reading my first post on this blog, I hope you enjoyed it, and, until next time!

-Abigail Makela

Legend by Marie Lu

Legend, the first book of the Legend series, is a dystopian young adult novel written by Marie Lu. Taking place in the future, the U.S. was battered by floods and destroyed with a massive volcanic eruption. In the midst of the destruction, the Republic of America, run by dictator Elector Primo, arose. In contrast to the totalitarian state, the Colonies of America also formed, countering the Republic’s rule. This dramatic rift of conflict is not the only thing in this novel that is converse.

Day, a 15-year-old boy from the poor Lake sector just outside of Los Angeles (also known as the "slums"), follows a life of crime (ex. torching fighter jets, stealing food and money, running up and vandalizing buildings) against the Republic. On the other hand, June is the Republic’s star prodigy and soldier as she scored a perfect 1500 on the Trials, an intellectual and physical exam given to 10-year-olds to assign them to different social classes. As a result, she lives a life of comfort, with as many Notes (currency) to last her a lifetime and more. Unlike Day’s opposition to the Republic, June pledged her unyielding allegiance to the state. Her goal is to capture the Republic’s most-wanted criminal, Day.

Despite coming from vastly different backgrounds and experiences, Day and June also share major similarities.

• Both are prodigies. In the novel, it is revealed that Day actually achieved a perfect 1500, instead of the 674 failing score that the Republic lied about.

• They both seek revenge and have strong loyalty for their families. Day is seeking revenge against the Republic for the brutal murders of his family members (Dad, Mom, John) and the immoral testing of Eden (his younger brother) for biological weapons in war. June is seeking revenge against the person who killed her older brother, Metias. She initially believed that Day was his murderer, but was manipulated by Commander Jameson (a Republic military commander) into thinking that.

Day and June are like magnets; complete opposites (“north” and “south”) that come together to form a strong connection. Though they had a rough history, they try to put their prejudices behind them to expose the corrupt system of the Republic.

- Chloe L.

Goodreads Reviews😱

     Many readers know and love the website Goodreads, the online tool allows for readers to keep track of which books they have read or would like to read. Goodreads was established in 2007 by Otis and Elizabeth Chandler. The website has a feature that allows anyone with an account to leave a review on a book. There are a couple of good aspects to this but just as most things go there are also negative aspects to the review option. Many simply use the feature once they have completed a novel to write their thoughts about it, reviews pile on plenty of different series and books including someone's positive, negative, or neutral thoughts on a book. The thing is though, if someone has strong opinions that are biased based on components such as lack of understanding, influence from others, or even just missing a key detail that adds to the storyline, can cause for the reviews to not be 100% accurate.  

In general society can deem a book good even when some disagree, which can lead to someone looking for a new read to be influenced into reading a book with the opinions of others and not their own. Some of the people deeming these books as good or bad can also be uneducated and lack the important knowledge/information needed to truly understand the book. A prime example could be people who have read something from school, or a parent made them read the book for educational purposes; both of which can cause someone to not enjoy the book as much as what a book of choice could have been enjoyed. With these examples, someone’s lack of enjoyment could simplify down to negative reviews on a book that might be really good. 

 Another thing about reviews is the open space to express emotion and thought, there have been times where I’ll see a series of reviews from Goodreads where someone is being humorous in their review yet still express their thoughts of the book. The free range of words that can be used in a review welcomes people to advise other readers of what to look forward to or even look out for in a story. The process of leaving reviews initiates connections from people in different places to share something that they value with others. That is my take on Goodreads reviews, this might not be true for everyone but in general the ideas of reviews are great when they are unbiased.  

(Bonus if you want! Here's a link to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/)

            -Chloe B.🦆

Fanfiction - Literature or Nonsense - Max B-M

    Fanfiction is defines as "fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction," and while the authors may be amateur at the craft, the work is often far from it. There is an ongoing debate in many fandoms, really every fandom, about whether fan-written works and stories (more commonly known as “fanfiction” or “fanfic”) should be considered true literature. Many websites, from Wattpad to Ao3, are devoted to providing access to fanfiction. These sites vary in publicity (Ao3 requires an invitation to create an account) and general quality of writing. On pretty much every fanfic site, you can find works with the potential to become true published novels next to 100-word stories of absolute nonsense. 

    Now, I know many people who read a lot of fanfic, and I also know many people who would rather die than read some random story about characters from an already-known franchise. Most of the people who do enjoy reading it are often on the side of it being considered “real literature,” believing many of the works are not only long enough but also well-written enough to be published. The ladder, however, is the people who often argue the side of fanfic being unoriginal and “obsessive,” with the belief that it’s almost always poorly written. While these people are occasionally correct, they often aren’t and base their arguments on “crack fics”. 

    Fanfictions that are made with the purpose of being absurd and all-around “bad” are often referred to as “crack fics”. These works are typically created due to a bet, or simply wanting to make something funny and unserious. Using these types of fics as evidence of poor quality isn't honest as they are written to be poor quality. If the fics are bad that means the author has done their job and they aren’t good examples as opposed to truly gross or bad fics. 

    While there are fics that are meant to be bad, there is still some simply bad fan fiction. Usually written by 11-year-old girls about random celebrities they like, these fics are almost always painful to read. They’re typically sickeningly cringe and are simply poorly written, with run-ons and sentences that make little to no sense. However, these fics are often made for other young girls, not people looking to read a truly flushed-out story. Though these works make for a better argument in the fact that fanfic is inherently bad, they are rarely what people talk about when they argue for fanfiction being true literature. 

        What people are typically speaking of when they talk about “good” fanfiction, are the full stories with hundreds of thousands of words. There are many fics that Etsy creators have even begun to bind into physical books. These stories can be the same length as fully published novels, sometimes the length of a full series. “All the Young Dudes” by MsKingBean on Ao3 is 188 chapters and bound copies are sold by many Etsy shops. It’s undeniably well-written and is one of the founding bricks for the “Marauders” fandom, a fandom that wouldn’t exist without fanfics. 

    Many fandoms, actually, are completely founded on fanfiction. Characters that might not exist normally or only have very minor background roles can be given new life with the extensive character building that many fic authors do. There are countless OCs (original characters) that have been created to aid in stories and are then accepted as a widely favored character. 

    These fics are often even the quality of a published novel. Scene building and character profiles are often extensive enough to be categorized as professional, even if they were written on someone's phone in a dark bedroom. These fanfictions will have conflict, resolution, and growth, similar to the traditional way of writing novels. 

    While these works are often without original characters, the personalities, settings, and stories are vastly altered and should be considered as at least mostly, original works. These fics are often beautiful and completely worth reading.  

Anyway thanks for coming to my TED Talk I guess (this was a really weird thing to rant about, sorry y’all) 🫥

Eowyn and The Price of Freedom

 Once again, I shall refrain from writing my post solely about Pratchett. Mostly because I’m in the middle of a really good series of his and I’d like to finish the entirety of Witches before I write a review, but also because I can’t be that redundant without seeming hyperfixated (I am, but I’d like not to SEEM like it). Instead, I’ll talk about my favorite character in my other well known obsession – Eowyn from Lord of the Rings. She is so often mischaracterzed as the trope of “Girl in love triangle”, even by die-hard fans. Well, I love her with my heart and soul, and Miranda Otto is amazing, so here’s my 2 cents:

Spoilers for Lord of the Rings. Mostly ROTK, but really all, considering it includes Aragorn.

Eowyn, having spent her whole life as a woman in a country where they are more constrained, wants so desperately to be who she can at her fullest potential. When Theoden King is put under the curse of Wormtongue/Saruman, this position of caretaker and ‘traditional woman’ is doubly enforced. She sees Aragorn, and very clearly enjoys his attention if nothing else. She sees him as the savior of her uncle, and by proxy her. In both book and movie, this extends on the implications of this to be a crush. When she is told she must fulfill her duty by Aragorn, instead of finding her own freedom, she is crushed. Not only did he free her uncle Theoden, but he is freeing Middle Earth of the scourge that brought such ruin on Rohan in the first place: Sauron. To be denied her chance at heroic deeds by the man that, to her, embodies the concept of freedom itself is heart-wrenching. So, she follows him anyway.

Dressing like a man Mulan-style and going as the code name Durnhelm so that she could go to war and fight, she got to see war. She got to see her own ideals of freedom in true fashion. She thought she loved Aragorn, and that to her was simply another reason to fight. When the war was over and she was recovering from her fight with the Nazgûl, she realized that she didn’t truly love Aragorn, she loved the IDEA of him. The idea that he was the perfect fighter and could bring that to her, that he was the bringer of war. She wanted that glory, that fame, not him. As she realized war was not glorious, that it was only pain and destruction, she fell out of love with Aragorn. She fell in love with Faramir because he was representative of all the good in the world – enjoying music and love over things like war and death. True freedom. He was representative of her realizing that war is not her key to freedom, that war only takes away every freedom there could be. His love being proclaimed in the halls of healing, while she recovers from her wounds, only propagates this fact. She has seen war. Not only that, she is the slayer of the witch-king. She is a good fighter, her newfound disdain for it cannot be written off as her realizing she isn’t good enough. It’s her realizing no one is above death, and therefore one must instead choose life. Life can only be for the living, anyhow.

Can you tell I’m anti-war,

     – Elanor S.