kevinscorner 's review for:

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen

3.5

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Painted Devils is the direct sequel to the YA fantasy Little Thieves set a few months later. Vanja was not trying to start a cult when she made up a lie about the Scarlet Maiden with herself as ifs prophet. But when the supposedly made-up god rises up to accept the worship and demands Emeric as a virgin sacrifice, Vanja needs to deal with the consequences. On top of that, Emeric is actually there to investigate this new cult (and Vanja’s culpability) as his final test to become a prefect.

I really wished I had liked this book more, but I just thought it was kind of messy with a scattered plot and jumbled character interactions. I felt like all the characters weren’t acting naturally with foolhardy acts and foolish decisions. There actually was a great plotline and twist in the whole Scarlet Maiden situation, but it just got lost in the messiness of the story.

With the distinctive storytelling of Little Thieves lost, Vanja and Emeric are what remain of what sold Little. Here, I enjoyed the awkward and shy interactions between them as they try to know each other carnally. Because how do you stop a virgin sacrifice? By not being a virgin anymore of course. But they both aren’t quite ready yet for their first times, leading to some hilarous romcommy moments. However, I just don’t know if these moments interspersed throughout held the book together enough for me. Vanja just really annoyed me a lot here. Her deep-seated insecurity and jumping to conclusions are just always the problem. For all her complaining about choices, she keeps taking other people’s choices away by the very ones she makes.

Unfortunately, Painted Devils was a frustrating read and fell short of Little Thieves.