Ally Carter

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre...to case it. for her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie travelled 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

Heist Society

Kristen Spaulding

A group of teenagers uses their combined talents to re-steal several priceless paintings and save fifteen-year-old Kat Bishop's father, himself an international art thief, from a vengeful collector.

Heist society

ghost girl in satin

It could have been so much fun but it felt rushed and overdramatic.

alexandra

i've been meaning to read this for YEARS (like eight years) and i finally got around to listening to the audiobook. it reminded me so much of How to Steal a Million and i loved how fun it was. the characters, romance, and action were all solid; now i need to read the sequel!

Beatrix Haase

Heist Society by Ally Carter
I couldn't finish this story at all. I just couldn't. Something about this book didn't have me hooked even from page 1. I am thinking about trying it again sometime later. For now though 2/5 stars. I just couldn't get into this book.

Savindi Jinasena

Cover Gushing Worthiness: I really like the cover of the hardcover version of Heist Society which is the one I have. I like it because there’s a mischievous element to it. Plus the painting that is reflected off Kat’s sunglasses is really cool. Personally I don’t like the cover of the paperback edition
  
 . The girl doesn’t even remotely resemble Kat or at least what I pictured Kat to be like in my head. My only guess is that the girl in the cover could be Gabrielle- Kat’s cousin.

Review: If someone told me that purchasing Heist Society in hardcover for only $4.00 was a bargain, I would be inclined to agree with them. After all the covers of the series are all fun and glamorous in their own way. However after reading the book it is clear that Heist Society was neither worth my time or money. This book was overhyped and it was disappointing.

After reading the synopsis I was sold. How could I not be sold when there’s globe-trotting, a young girl who comes from a family of thieves, a gorgeous rich best friend and a great secondary cast. It has the makings of a perfect Heist society. Apparently in my case it is quite possible to be conned by a synopsis. This book was 57% of nothing happening, 5 chapters of a poorly written Heist that was confusing to follow and bland characters. It disappoints to say all of this because this story had so much potential to be exceedingly better than what it was. The plot could have been better and more fast paced, the characters could have been developed better and the love triangle could have been excluded.

In regards to the plot, I kept on asking myself if there was one to begin with because there was a lot of globe-trotting and instead of any actual doing in order to move the story forward. The story moves at a snail’s pace and just when you think that something is going to happen, it reverts back to “nothing’s happening mode.” As I was reading the book I became aware that the story was becoming a lot like the first St.Trinian’s movie which I highly recommend because it’s so much better than Heist Society. Kat could have easily been Annabel Fritton, Gabrielle could have been Kelly Jones, Simon could have been Penny and the Bagshaws were essentially the twins from St.Trinian’s. The Museum Heist, well… that’s in St.Trinian’s too and for similar reasons as Kat has to rob the museum. There’s one part in the book where the Bagshaws are creating an explosion at Hale’s mansion and the same thing happens in St.Trinian’s. It really was difficult to ignore the similarities. As for the heist itself: it was rushed, confusing and poorly written. I went back to re-read the chapters and I still didn't understand what exactly happened. The love triangle too was completely unnecessary. It was obvious from the start that the second love interest was only there to cause some drama between Kat and Hale. As for the ending, well by the end I didn't care anymore and would have happily chucked the book across my room.

As for the characters, Ally Carter didn't give me any good reasons as to why I should root for them in the first place. I was indifferent towards Kat. She didn't really do anything in the book. Half the time it seemed like she spent her time whining and feeling sorry for herself and she expected you as a reader to feel sympathy for her. She didn't have any qualities that made her stand out in my eyes. She just existed within the book without doing anything. More than Kat I was so disappointed in Hale. I expected to swoon over him, but was boring like Kat. I honestly didn't even care what his initials stood for and that seems to be a big mystery in the series. As for as the secondary characters went I was amused by the Bagshaws and Marcus. Marcus was one of the only redeemable elements in this book. I liked his character- he was like Alfred, except much less cooler of course. Nick the love interest…well we all know why he was there. Just to spite Hale I wanted Kat and Nick to have more flirtatious conversations, sadly that never manifested.

The other redeemable feature in this book were the illustrations of the maps on the pages which had the countdown towards the deadline for the Heist. Those were really pretty and that’s where my love for the book ends.

Overall Heist Society has probably been the biggest letdown for the year so far. The characters were flat, the plot failed in its execution and the writing was choppy. I’m disappointed that I didn't like this book more because I really wanted to like it. I think the only reason I did continue to read this book was because Lottie from Book Adoration and I read it as part of a read-along. You can read her review for the book here.

My Rating:1/5

Would I recommend it? No

If you want to see a good Heist watch St. Trinian’s!

Kat Bishop wants to leave the family business. But that’s not easy if your family is a gang of exclusive, world-class thieves. When a mobster accuses Kat’s dad of stealing his priceless art collection, Kate knows there’s only one thing to do – she has to find the paintings and steal them back. But with only two weeks, a teenage crew, a plan that will take her across Europe, and her dad’s life on the line, can she pull off the biggest heist in history?

a quick, entertaining read with good banter!

Connor 

Nedu

Crystal A.

I thought it was a very fun read. Favorite characters were the Bagshaw brothers and Nick. I love the family aspect of the book. Kat definitely has a weird/crazy family which I can definitely relate to. Compared to it's "sister" series, Gallagher Girls, I definitely enjoyed G.G. more than Heist Society. I would still love to continue reading this series. I don't think I've ever read a book about spies and thieves before. I think this is the start of a very beautiful obsession.

Andrea Cabezudo García

Sheila

Dumb but fun! Love books that fall in this category.

Yaneli | @aquariusbookadventures 

Maria

в принципе, история про ограбление - всегда в радость. история про ограбление музея - радость тем более. но конкретно здесь всю дорогу смущает тот факт, что Самый Защищенный Музей Мира, Который Никогда В Истории Никто Не Грабил, ограбила банда пятнадцатилеток

как написал кто-то в другой трехзвездочной рецензии - вы реальных пятнадцатилеток-то видели? тех, которые с прыщами?

laura

I really loved this book so much. It love all the members of the society and just the development of all the characters. It was such a fast pace read and very well done. I was impressed by the female character and the lack of a focus on romance really. Their were hints of love triangle but not the focus. I loved the heist and the rather nice plot twist towards the end of the book!

Lynn Braden

Kat's family business is crime. Once she's finally had enough, Kat uses her skills as a criminal to con her way into an exclusive private prep school, only to have one of her former friends get her kicked out. The reasons are good however when Kat's father is under the threat of being killed by a criminal family who is convinced he stole their precious art. Kat and her friends have the impossible task of not only finding the art but stealing it back before the deadline passes and Kat's father is killed.
This book is exciting with action that never lets up and enough twists and turns for any mystery enthusiast.

Erin 

Here's an updated review since I gave it one star. Isn't that nice?

The characters have a mysterious background, but you never really get a grip on what that background is - it read more like a summary rather than an introduction. I get that the whole thievery thing is supposed to be mysterious, but you do need to make sure your readers can follow along. Which made it difficult to connect to them (excluding the thievery bit because really, who is going to have a personal identification with that). Another tidbit about the characters I wasn't particularly fond of was that there were just so many, and so many introduced at once. For a relatively short book, I found it was hard to keep track of them. Also, the feeling I got every time someone new was introduced felt like I was already supposed to know them. As if they were already introduced and I had just missed it during an occasion where I read but don't take anything in (this happens on occasion when I am not totally invested in a book). 

Of course, the concept of children (yes, they are essentially children) being able to jet off across Europe at the ease of which they do is a little far-fetched. And the whole premise of being able to rob this super-high security and impossible to penetrate museum that no adult has ever been able to access is totally unrealistic (even if they are "trained" thieves). But if you get past the impossibility of it all, it's quite a light read that doesn't require too much investment (just be sure not to dedicate too much time to separating all the characters - its much easier to have them all blend together and they don't have very much individuality to them anyway).

I was so obsessed with the Gallagher Girls series when I was a youngin. Like, very obsessed. I wanted to be a spy so badly, I was looking up the job requirements for the CIA. So the chances of me liking this book, based on thieves instead of spies, was very very high. And yet, this book became one of the first ever books that I just couldn't finish and actually gave up on. Now, having re-read the whole thing, I realise that I was a little harsh. Sure, it isn't the greatest novel - it's not even really a great YA novel. But every element that is present in Gallagher Girls is present in this book. I think that is why I didn't like this one at all at first - it was simply too similar. I actually think, however, that if I had read this series first, I probably would have liked it better. However, 
I probably won't read the rest of the series. It's a really interesting premise and certainly has a lot of elements that I loved when I was part of the focus age group. It has the dashing boy, the independent and extraordinarily capable lead girl, jumping from country to country in Europe, and to top it all off, a sprinkling of art history to make it cultured. But the writing is only so-so and while I did actually enjoy it to an extent this time round, I cannot see myself interested enough to read the rest. Still though, definitely not deserving of the one star I gave it many years ago.

(I am sorry my sentence structure is abysmal - I really don't feel the need to give this any more analysis than I have)

Heist Society

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