The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

One of the displays I put up at my local library for December was cozy books. So this month I’ve decided to have a running series where I share some of my favorite cozy reads.

The first book is Heist Society by Ally Carter.

It’s a very interesting book and is written in the usual Ally Carter way. She is the only one that I know of who writes these types of books for teens.

This book was my first fiction introduction to Ally Carter, and I loved it. I read this during the summertime, but I could easily imagine reading this curled up in front of the fireplace while it snows outside.

It’s action-packed, which isn’t my favorite, but it was really well done. While I usually get bored reading action books, I was gripped with this series.

Here is my full review of Heist Society by Ally Carter:

I typically don’t read “thrillers.” This book is an exception. I loved it! It was Six of Crows, but in Europe. It was also not as dark as Six of Crows. This book is lighthearted and adventurous, but still has the serious aspects I’ve been looking for in lighthearted books. This book follows Katarina ‘Kat’ Bishop who wants out of the life of a thief. Her father’s a thief, her uncle, her cousin, all her friends and family members are thieves; it’s a family business. For a moment, Kat gets her wish, but then things go wrong, and she’s thrust back into her world, where she learns her father is in danger. She gathers her crew: rich boy W.W. Hale the Fifth, pretty Gabrielle, genius Simon, and brothers Angus and Hamish. Just maybe they might be able to save Kat’s father, stand up to a mobster, and do something that nobody has done before, including her talented family. The book was enjoyable from start to finish and you fall in love with every character. Ally Carter did an amazing job of writing this book because you didn’t know what’s going to happen next. Really wonderfully done and a definite reread!

Here is the summary of the story 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 Kat back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has a 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 her family’s history–and, with any luck, steal her life back along the way.

Happy reading and happy holidays! If you choose to read Heist Society, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!