Heist Society review

Description: When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her 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 her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster's art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. 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 (very crooked) history—and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

My thoughts: Once I read Heist Society’s description, and because I’d read so many good reviews, I had no doubt that I’d like this book. I’ve never read a YA book whose main characters were thieves, so I was very excited because I love Oceans 11/the Italian Job style thievery. And this one had everything I wanted!

 There were multiple characters with different styles that helped the group as a whole. There was an evil dude behind everything but also a twist in the end so you’re not sure if the person behind the stealing of the three original paintings is good or bad. And, it has romance and betrayal.

One main reason I get excited about books revolving around the life of thieves is that in real life, stealing things is frowned upon. But in a book, they people can be portrayed in such a way that they can actually be seen as the good guy. Or you at least find yourself trying to make allowances for them, so it doesn’t seem too bad when they’re stealing the Mona Lisa in the 4^th chapter (this isn’t in the book, it’s just an ex.).

Besides all the thieving and plotting, the author reminded me why I love to read books or watch movies about thieves. They’re SO smart!! They seem to always know so much about EVERYTHING, especially art which I always like learning more about. I loved that they could be in Paris one day, and then Germany the next and switch languages like it was nothing! Or that they could know more about the history of a painting then the person who painted it. All good thieves just have to be very smart to not get caught, which is why I told my mom that if stealing wasn’t bad, I’d want to be a thief (calm down mom). 

Now that I’m done with the first book, I'm very excited for the next one. Especially because the author added a twist at the end of Heist Society that gave me an idea of what might happen next. I can’t wait!