When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre…to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria…to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own—scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving “the life” for a normal life proves harder than she’d expected.
Soon, Kat’s friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat’s father isn’t just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat’s dad needs her help.
For Kat, there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it’s a spectacularly impossible job? She’s got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in her family’s history–and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.
PUBLISHER: Disney-Hyperion
PAGES: 287
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I read Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girl Series when I was in high school and I adored them. After reading this one (a couple years late, I might add) I believe I’ve outgrown her writing style, but this was a fun read nonetheless.
Well, what can I say, this book was a blast from the past. Ally Carter’s Heist Society isn’t that different from the GG series besides the fact that this one is about underage thieves. GG was about underage spies. Hey, if it’s working for you Ms. Carter, stick to it. I’ll probably read it.
MORAL RATING:
PG: Kissing, totally unnecessary talk about the main character’s chest
THE GOOD:
I think the part of this book that I loved the most was the third person POV. That may sound really cheesy and nerdy, but I sincerely believe this book wouldn’t have had the same charm if Carter had used any other POV style. There are many different characters at play in this novel: Hamish, Angus, Nick, Katarina, Hale, Uncle Eddie… to name a few. Although there is a very real plot to this book, I saw it as more of a setup for the next novels in this series. The ending definitely leads to a sequel…
Katarina was a fun heroine. While the similarities to Cammie Morgan were present, she was entertaining and I enjoyed her. She has plenty of sass and spunk and is ready to steal the show (quite literally). There were a couple lines in this novel that had me laughing out loud and almost slapping my knee. I kid you not. I found myself constantly guessing about what was going to happen next.
I almost groaned when I thought there was going to be a love triangle, but fear not! Hale and Nick were both great additions to the story. I feel like they were just introduced in this first book and I hope that they will be expanded upon in the next installations.
THE BAD:
While I found a break-in to the most secure museum in London (and possibly the world) completely implausible, this is a book that you just have to take as it is.
Sometimes I became confused as to what exactly was going on, but Ally Carter sorted everything out by the end. So, I’m a happy camper.
SOUNDTRACK:
I love Seattle-based band Barcelona. I feel like this song captures Katarina’s feelings during the big heist. Everything seems to be going wrong/slipping away, but she sticks with it. I don’t know… this soundtrack was a tough one for me!
MY VERDICT:
Overall, I’d give this book a 3.5/5! I think I’d probably have rated it higher if I’d read it a couple years ago when it had first come out. Now that I’m nineteen and practically an adult (read: I’m so mature cough cough) I couldn’t quite get into this book as easily as I think I could have if I was younger. I did enjoy it, though, and I’ll be reading the second of this series when I have the time! I’d recommend this book for tweens and teens that love reading about people their age getting away with illegal activities. 😉
"I Think I'm Obsessed" 