Well, Margaret Owen has done it again. This book was an absolute masterpiece. Painted Devils, the second book in this series, starts off with our quick-thinking and witty protagonist, Vanja, accidentally starting a cult and quite possibly waking up a dormant god. From there, she is forced on a thrilling adventure of romance, thievery, and magic as the lives of her loved ones (or loved one *eyebrow wiggle*) are put at risk. 

Firstly, THESE CHARACTERS. Vanja completely owns my heart, as brave and funny and kind as she is, and Emeric is absolutely adorable. Their relationship, and the way it developed over the course of this story, was so precious, and their constant back-and-forth banter was hilarious as always. One disappointment is that we didn’t get to see nearly enough of my favorite Little Thieves characters (Ragne’s absense felt illegal), but Margaret Owen made up for it with a new cast that was just as lively and lovable as the first. And, again, Vanja and Emeric could make up for anything. I loved them.

I also loved the way Margaret Owen wove more complicated themes into this book, from Vanja’s fear of abandonment, to the idea of beauty and recognizing it in yourself, to the value of family, whether found or blood. It was wonderful, too, to see the casual queer rep I’ve noticed in all of Owen’s books. There is plenty of talk about female characters having wives, a quick touch on a protagonist’s asexuality, and several trans and nonbinary characters. When characters’ queerness comes up in conversation, the others treat it with respect without making a huge deal of it, and it appears to be very normal in their society.  

My one major complaint about Painted Devils is that some of the conflicts between characters (specifically Emeric and Vanja) got a little bit repetitive and annoying. It was great to see teenagers acting their age (weirdly rare in YA books) but it did feel as if they had the same conversation multiple times without ever actually solving the problem. (As evidenced, I feel, by the end of the book.

I'm incredibly annoyed that Vanja ran away. I understand her reasoning, and I guess it fits into her character arc (sort of) but it also felt like it was bringing her right back to the beginning of the story. Like she'd lost all her progress. Idk, it might just be that I want Vanja and Emeric to stay together. lmao.

)

Besides that, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this book. The action-packed adventures, the subplots and mini-heists, the fantastic characters, and the unique creatures and magic kept me on the edge of my seat, while the writing and dialogue had me cackling and crying. The ending left me with so many questions, and I look forward to seeing where the story goes next.