Book Review: Heist Society by Ally Carter

Title: Heist Society

Author: Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #1
Pages: 304
Publisher: Orchard Children's Books
Date of Publication: 1st September 2011
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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 her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has 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 history-or at least her family's (very crooked) history.

My Thoughts:
I didn't really know what to expect from Heist Society. I wanted a quick, fun read, and I was hoping that that was what I would get. And it disappoint! I had great fun reading about all the heists Kat pulled, and I loved trying to figure out how she was going to pull off one the most difficult and most crazy burglaries of all time.

I really liked Ally's writing style - it was awesome how it was easy and simple to read, yet it didn't feel like anything was lacking. Maybe there could have been a little bit more explanation or description in some places (but not too much to slow it down), but in the most part I found that I could quite happily read for an hour or two without having felt like I've been bogged down in something deep for too long.

I also liked the characters. I really liked Kat in particular - I loved the way that Ally portrayed as a very real and almost believable teenager. (Only almost because she's a 'professional' theif!). Her reaction to being roped back into her family's business that she tried so hard to get out of was so realistic, and I could relate to her in that she didn't want to be doing something that she really had no choice in, if that makes sense.

However, the main downside of the book for me were the other characters. None of them really stood out too much to me, and I read the book a couple of weeks ago and I already have forgotten their names, apart from Uncle Eddie. I think it would have been nice to know a little bit more about the characters and I think I'd have liked it better if it had been written in first person, because then we'd get Kat's point of view about each character better than we did, even though as I said before, I really liked the writing style. (I am aware that makes little sense, but I don't know how else to put it...)

Lastly, I liked the way the book was structured. I liked how at the beginning, Kat was given her deadline, and then the rest of the book is split up into '13 days before the deadline'; '12 days before the deadline'; '11 days before the deadline'; etc. It helped me to keep track of whereabouts in the plot they were, and sometimes I get a bit confused about the timings and settings of books so it was nice to be able to flip back a few pages to find out what day it was, and also which country Kat and her friends were in at the time.

Overall, I really enjoyed Heist Society. While it wasn't my favourite book, I did feel that at the time I read it, it was what I really wanted, and for that, I give it extra points (not that I give points ;) ). I would definitely recommend it if you like simple and fun contemporary reads, but if you're looking for something that's deep and will make you think, maybe leave this one until you want something you can read, enjoy, and then forget. Having said this though, I think I will be reading the sequel, as I'd love to find out where Kat's adventures will take her next.

My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #94