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 in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. But now her dad's life is on the line, and Kat must go back to the world she tried so hard to escape...
I was not a fan of Carter's "I'd Tell You I Love You" but I was very interested by the idea of this book revolving around thieves, I wanted the main character to be this clever, cunning thief trying to get away from the family 'business'. I did enjoy this book, though I wouldn't call it one of my favorite reads of the year, but I enjoyed it enough.
I struggled with the pacing for a while, it took a lot longer than most books do to grab my interest, but when it did I was hooked. I think the difference between this and the Ally carter book that I didn't like was the use of suspense, this book is a mystery and suspense and I was so interested in how things were going to play out, it gave a push to the otherwise mediocre writing and pacing.
Ah yes, the writing... it wasn't anything special, it wasn't unique and didn't particularly grab me, though I know other reviewers have found it gripping. it had a certain level of wittiness that got a few chuckles from me, but didn't seem particularly unique in the market.
What really made me enjoy this book was the interactions between the characters. I loved all of the different personalities. There's sassy and strong minded Kat, charmer Hale, mysterious Nick, girly flirt Gab, shy genius Simon and the twins, who add some comedy. There's some romance, but it isn't piled on, it's very subtle.
Overall, not an amazing book, but the characters and mystery pull it up to a pretty average grade.
Overall Rating: C-
First published 2010. This edition was released by Orchard September 1st 2011. I recieved this copy for review from the publisher.
The pacing was my biggest struggle. I'm hoping that book two has a lot more Hale involved.
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