The Streetlight Reader

Cover Gushing Worthiness: I really like the cover of the hardcover version of Heist Society which is pictured on the left. 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 $4.99 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