Tag: heist

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Six of Crows Duology: Why the Crew Dynamic Carries Everything

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

A heist crew that has incredibly high stakes and a lot of enemies closing in around them… this surprised me with how much I was expecting NOT to like it… but I didn’t expect this.

Six of Crows

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price–and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . . 

A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager.  A runaway with a privileged past.  A spy known as the Wraith.  A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. 

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction–if they don’t kill each other first. 

Grab the book Here

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood
Moderate: Slavery, Trafficking, Addiction
Minor: Sexual Assault, Death of a Parent, Sexual Violence

My Review

Having this many POV can sometimes be a bit messy, but I think this was really well done. It added such incredible drama to the story, I love to jump in and out of people’s perspectives, plus when everybody in a heist is in a different spot as part of the team layout like this is necessary. I liked everyone. All the characters in their own ways were fantastic, they interacted with each other really well, and the plot moved forward with these character dynamics in mind. The actual heist/prison break itself was really well done. I enjoyed the setup, the planning, the execution, and everything in between.
The magic system was quite good, it was a bit of a spin on the normal type of abilities you can see in people. I like the way that this particular system spun things, and I would love to see more.

Crooked Kingdom

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood
Moderate: Trafficking, Addiction, Torture
Minor: Sexual Assault, Slavery

My Review

I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first, but it was still a good story and conclusion after book one. I found it swayed a little and had less direction than the first book.
The characters were still great, and I enjoyed seeing where everything landed at the end.

Would I Recommend This Book?

Yes, I would recommend both books in the series. I don’t have much interest in the world that surrounds it as Leigh continues on, but this one.. if you like an Oceans 11 feel with some fantasy thrown in, this one’s for you!

Similar Books You Might Like

If you are thinking what kind of books would have similar feel, themes or content, here is a list that you can consider:

  • The Spider Heist (Jason Kesper)
  • Thieves Gambit (Kayvion Lewis)
  • Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Challenges Book Reviews Books

Heist Books Ranked by How Convincing the “Perfect Crime” Actually Feels

Stories about heists are always a hit, just look at movies like Oceans 11 or The Sting… and books about heists are no exception. I LOVE a good heist story, so let’s look at some of the heist books I’ve read and enjoyed.

Six of Crows (Leigh Bardugo)

bardugo

Having this many POV can sometimes be a bit messy, but I think this was really well done. It added such incredible drama to the story, I love to jump in and out of people’s perspectives, plus when everybody in a heist is in a different spot as part of the team layout like this is necessary. I liked everyone. All the characters in their own ways were fantastic, they interacted with each other really well, and the plot moved forward with these character dynamics in mind. The actual heist/prison break itself was really well done. I enjoyed the setup, the planning, the execution, and everything in between.
The magic system was quite good, it was a bit of a spin on the normal type of abilities you can see in people. I like the way that this particular system spun things, and I would love to see more.

Grab the book Here

Final Empire: Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)

sanderson

I’ll start this off by saying I liked this book. Not loved, but liked. I think the first half was my favourite and after looking up spoilers I don’t think I will continue the series.
However, it was still a good story and interesting characters.

Here are my little observations:
It was really hard to keep track of all the characters and who they all were (particularly with an audiobook format). I think there were just a bit too many for my personal preferences.

I’m not used to books that take place over such long periods of time but that are still interesting and flow well. I appreciated that from this book (it was also my first “high fantasy” that I made all the way through and I liked it quite a bit actually).

There was a huge amount of info dumping at times, but something about it didn’t feel that annoying like it can with other books. I was fully aware of it, and yet I didn’t mind.

The theme of discussing religion throughout was an unusual choice. While it doesn’t favour any one in particular, and seemingly makes some up (although who knows because more keep being made all the time), it was kind of….. odd. It felt strange that these people are talking about that in the middle of everything. I love a good Christian fiction book, so religion in books is not something I don’t like, it was more so that this seemed to acknowledge that religion exists but also that it doesn’t much matter which one you believe… and that’s something I disagree with so perhaps that’s why it felt so disjointed for me.

I love Brandon’s writing, and have enjoyed another series of his but I think the continuing of this one will not be something I’m interested in.

Grab the book Here

The Picasso Heist (James Patterson & Howard Roughan)

There were a lot of turns, once you thought you knew what was going on, it all changed again. I thought I was in for a painting heist, but what I got was a lot more than that.
The way things flowed, fit together and unfolded was great. I was convinced of one thing, only to be proven wrong about others. Then again, some things I guessed and when I was proven right, it was really nice.
There were a lot of moving parts, and it seems like everyone is a lot smarter than people in real life. Elaborate and intricate plans are not the norm with most people in the lives we all live in the real world. However, for a fictional story like this one, I don’t mind.
The characters were pretty good, but I found it difficult to really connect properly what with all the twists and turns of the way things happened.

Grab the book Here

Everyone in This Bank is a Thief (Benjamin Stevenson)

I really enjoyed the slow reveal of how everybody in the bank was a thief. They were multiple plot lines, things were happening slowly but also with the usual Ernest Cunningham way.
It did get quite complex at points, and some things were a little bit far-fetched until they weren’t. We managed to have a meaning for everything, but because there was so much happening it was difficult at times to follow the thread. Having said that, it was wrapped up quite nicely. Everything made sense, and some things were surprising, some things weren’t. Ultimately it was funny, interesting, and very scientific… That was unexpected.

Grab the book Here

The Spider Heist (Jason Kasper)

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I really liked this story.
The element of being caught up in a heist, having an ex FBI agent, and how everything unfolds was great.
High stakes, fast paced and corruption all within the span of a day. Nicely done, a good read.

Grab the book Here

Tokyo Heist (Diana Renn)

I am not the target audience so keep that in mind for the review below.

Classic adults aren’t as smart as teenagers, they missed important details and we can not only be taken seriously but also help solve the crime whilst being in mortal danger kind of a story.

Cultural additions were really nice. I like a good art heist story and having a budding artist come at it was also an interesting twist. I did have to speed read a lot of it though because it didn’t seem to hold my attention well.

Grab the book Here

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Reviews Book Series Books

Teenage Oceans 11? | Heist Society Reviews

Estimated Reading Time: 3min

A group of teenagers – some billionaires, and the others part of a family of long time thieves and con artists… what could go wrong?

Okay, a lot could go wrong. Most particularly, going to prison or being killed – two of the most common consequences of living as a criminal. But, somehow Ally Carter makes us root for the criminals, and we have some heist books in this series that were funny, somehow relatable, and altogether fun!

I enjoyed her other series about teenage spies – The Gallagher Girls – but it took me a while to grab these ones. The teenage spies are more intriguing, but the thieves were downright entertaining! I love a good heist story, and this for me, was it. So let’s go over the three main books in the Heist Society trilogy:

Heist Society

carter

Fun story, easy to read, interesting plot and characters with great comedy and wit. Love Ally’s style and the ‘underground’ worlds she creates.

I was excited to see the romance, the character relationships and the antics to continue in the next book. It was a fun and a little nod to all the con movies out there!

Grab the book Here

Uncommon Criminals

carter

Apparently I didn’t write an original review for this one but let’s see how good my memory is.

I liked the arc of our main character – knowing her family is a criminal business and not really wanting to be part of it, but knowing she will be whether she wants to or not. It’s got lots of anguish in what you’re born into, vs what you want to do and good vs bad.

The heist was fun, but very different to the previous story. I liked the twists and turns that we took, and as always the romance and fun character interactions was everything.

Grab the book Here

Perfect Scoundrels

carter

Again no review so here’s my memory.

This was the least favourite of mine in the series. The final story took a very different turn than the previous. It was less heist, and more con/investigation.

The billionaire character I briefly mentioned above is supposed to inherit the entire business but there’s something evil afoot. It was more trying to make sure he keeps his money (if he even wanted it) and less pulling off the perfect heist for people who had been stolen from first…

Grab the book Here

If we look at the series as a whole, I would say that it was a 4 Star series. The planning of heists, and the heists themselves (by teenagers at that) was really what drew and kept my attention. They were funny and had lots of wit and bite between them, and I really enjoyed that as well.

It did seem like as the series continued, Ally lost what made the magic… maybe? But either way it is still a very enjoyable few books, and even though I’m not a teenager anymore, some YA can be read at any age. For me, this series is one of them.

Have you read this series? Or maybe another heist book or series that you loved? Let us know in the comments your HEIST recommendations!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

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Book Challenges Books

Book Review Site Picks My Reading For November | Storygraph TBR

youtube

If you haven’t seen my Booktube video for November, I let Storygraph pick the books that I read this month! With a selection of twenty, it was painful (sort of) to cut down the list to five reads, but we did it…. So here they are:

The Last Christian

The Gryphon Heist

hannibal

The Inheritance Games

lynn barnes

Plot Twist

Tiger Queen

I am so excited to get to reading these books – and if you have read any and had some thoughts, share them in the comments. I’d love to know what i’m getting myself into this month!

Check out the video if you’d rather here:

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace