The Little Thieves series has been perfection. Each book I’ve loved more and more so my hopes were in the stratosphere for this series ender. And I loved it even more than I even thought. Keep reading this book review of Holy Terrors for my full thoughts.
Summary
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.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I was ready for heartbreak and Owen really keeps us on the emotional roller coaster. I can’t even fully express how many times I needed to continue to read to make sure my heart wouldn’t shatter into a million pieces. Holy Terrors was perfection in a series ender. While the action continually forces you to read, the true star is, of course, Vanja. The action and cleverness in this series always astounds me. I love being stumped. Holy Terrors challenges everything you knew about this world and breaks it.
Holy Terrors took my heart, carved it out, and stomped on it. I loved how we explore Vanja’s character growth throughout the whole series. There’s about a billion spoilers I want to shout about BUT I WON’T, but it’s such a great finale. This book explores when we feel the weight of ourselves hanging around someone’s neck even in silence. How our love isn’t enough to fill the holes of our dreams, our hopes, and our futures. With some terrible heartbreak, Holy Terrors is about finding our voice and about loving in spite of fear knowing that holding someone’s hand makes the unknown less terrifying.
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It’s about friendship and found family, people who will support us, and be able to see through our lies. It can be so tempting to run from what scares us. And what’s more terrifying that happiness? We think loss and pain is scary, but what about the possibility that we can be our best and still be disappointing, that our love isn’t enough? It is full of emotions, hilarious moments, wry humor, and wit. If you’ve ever worried you’d be someone’s downfall, that your love and yourself is too much of a burden, this is for you. Find Holy Terrors on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.