Heist Society

Compared to Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series, this was extremely disappointing. I felt like this would've worked better as a middle grade novel. The story was bland and too fast-paced, the characters were not characterized well, and the writing was more juvenile than expected, especially compared to the Gallagher Girls books.

This was a super fun read. It was kind of like a teen Ocean's 11. The characters were likable and it was a great story. Actually, I liked this book so much that I read it a second time almost immediately.

Quick read and delightful escapism. The book keeps enough hidden to provide an engaging story but not so much that it seems ridiculous. The book is especially delightful when you make everyone about 10 years older in your mind.

This is my second Ally Carter book and I like it a lot more than the first. That's probably because I've always liked thieves more than spies. (Unless we're talking spies like the ones from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - because they're oddly cool.)

So, in this book we follow a teenaged thief who wanted desperately to get out of the business but is pulled back in when her father is threatened. I'll admit that, at first, I wasn't sure about liking Kat. She's kind of broken, yeah - which it totally great - but she also didn't want any part of the thief lifestyle. At one point in the book she said something like ‘this life looks better when you chose it' which is probably totally correct, but I'm one of those people that would give anything to have a more exciting life than she's got so the people that have those lives and don't like them... Let's just say we seldom get along.

Kat though, she really grew on me because she's... A character. She's not perfect; she makes mistakes. She usually learns from those mistakes, but she is far from being some perfect girl - even if she is an awesome one. She's flawed enough to be likable.

And the others in her little ‘heist society' that she puts together are great. I really like each of them, though I wish there had been more group interplay than there was. One of the things I just love in books is how each person in a group has special skills and they might not always get along with everyone else. Personally, I think it took too long for the group to get together for the attention that I like to be paid to the entire group.

Before I get to the plot, I want to make special mention of romance. Now, I don't know if this was a fake-out or a double-fake-out. Kat has a very obvious love interest (who, I might add, is a total sweetheart with absolutely no jerk-ass tendencies at all) and all is well. Until we're introduced to the flirty guy. However, this isn't a love triangle. In fact, I'm not even sure this second guy shows up in the second book. This was super nice to see.

Now, the plot is... Quite a bit like an episode of Leverage. Kat's dad is suspected (by the ‘victim' and Interpol) of committing a crime that he couldn't have committed because he was - well... But no one believes him except his daughter and she puts together a crack team of other teenagers to steal back what was already stolen. Now doesn't that sound like a teen version of Leverage?

I think that was actually my biggest issue with the plot. Not that it's like Leverage, (which is a show that I really like) but that they are teens. Fifteen to seventeen, I believe. Now, I'm not saying that teens can't be amazingly talented and better at things than their elders. But, seriously? No teen should be this competent, amazing and flat-out awesome. Teens are not this suave, either. Now, even though this was distracting, it didn't make me hate anything about this book. However I can totally see how some people would be bothered by this a lot more than I was.

There's a certain plotline that I can't tell you about without giving away spoilers. Let's just say it has to deal with Germany and art and leave it at that. Oh, and I'd also like to say that this plot got a full star all on it's own because I love these type of stories.

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

where's the second book? :3

Very entertaining! It never misses a beat. Super witty, super fun, and the characters feel fresh and real (with the exception of Nick who fell flat.) I liked the mystery of Visily Romani and wish the author could have told us who he was. But the mystery feels more satisfying in an unsatisfying way (unsolved mysteries have a way of doing that.) My only criticism, if you can call it that, is that I didn't ever get the felling that Mr. Taccone was a real threat. There were certainly enough attempts to make him sinister but I never really felt it. Other than that, it was an excellent read. Really enjoyed it. :)

I enjoyed this book, however, it wasn't anything to brag about. I've never read a book like this before so it was super interesting. It definitely had an Ocean's Eleven feel to it but with teenagers (which was super cool since I love those movies). However, I was confused a lot while reading this and I found myself having to constantly reread portions of this book (which was a bit annoying).
Overall, I really liked the idea of this book and although somewhat predictable it was definitely worth the read and I will definitely be checking out the other books in this series.

Eh. Not bad, but not great. Didn't really care about the romance, and would've liked more about the characters, but not bad.

I thought this book was a really enjoyable, quick read. It's something for the kids who think caper crimes are pretty cool. I happen to be one of those individuals.

Traveling across Europe and New York, USA, Katarina and her unexpected crew work under a literal deadline in order to clear her father's name and keep everybody from the watchful eye of powerful mobster Arturo Taccone. The subtle strength in independent Kat is highly radiated throughout the pages of Heist Society. With help of her abandoned best friend W. W. Hale the Fifth, she has all she needs to pull off the ultimate heist against the best museum in the world. Known for her sensational heroines, Ally Carter out does herself with this intricately woven “state-of-the-art” series.

Unlike any other writing style I've encountered, Carter has a way of making the mysterious addictive and the unknown torturous. How can anyone do that, you ask? Well, if you stick a come-back thief, a benevolently betrayed family with its own set of rules and a billionaire all in the same toss-up, you get Heist Society. In order to keep up with the schemes and different points-of-view in this book, one would have to do some of work to fully understand why a specific character chose this path to take, or withhold that information to get the answers they needed. Some serious thinking had to be done at various points of this book, and I loved it all the more for it because it held my attention and would not let go. At the same time, it got creative in a unique way and showed you that not all life-stressing situations have to suck the fun out of everything; there can be a few laughs from time to disastrous time. While trying to save her father, Katarina had a way of being aloof but simultaneously hands-on–she's not one to be trifled with–when it came to accomplishing the most difficult operation she had ever encountered.

I loved reading about each individual character mostly because of their in-depth personalities–each has a background to base their disposition on. Even the ones not in Kat's crew were alluring and some quite amusing when it came to the final scenes of the heist and the game's end. I hope to find many more installment in this series to delve into.

I recommend Heist Society for all who wish to read a modern take on a fresh view of the retrieval of historical art by a motley crew with a common mindset and goal.

Grade: A

Enjoyable, light-hearted, thieves romp around the world.

3.5 stars.