HEIST SOCIETY SERIES REVIEW

Title/ Author: Heist Society by Ally Carter

Publisher/ Year: Disney-Hyperion, 2010.

How I Read It:  Hardcover 
Why I Read It:  I actually reread this, because I forgot a lot of what had happened in this book and I wanted to complete the rest of the series.
Rating:  3 stars out of 5

Title/ Author:  Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Publisher/ Year:  Disney-Hyperion, 2011.

How I Read It:  Hardcover (library book)

Why I Read It:  It's the sequel to Heist Society

Rating:  3 stars out of 5 

Title/ Author: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
Publisher/ Year: Disney-Hyperion, 2013.
How I Read It:  Hardcover (library book)
Why I Read It:  I wanted to see how the series would end and *SPOILER SORTA* see Kat and Hale actually DTR LIKE SERIOUSLY
Rating:  4 stars out of 5

Summary from Goodreads of Heist Society: 

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.

Overall, I enjoyed the series as a whole.  I love the concept and think the characters are awesome, but for the first 2 books I wasn't completely entertained, which is why I gave them each 3 stars.  The reason that I gave the last book 4 stars was due to the fact that the main conflict was surrounding Hale and his family (who we really didn't know very much about other than he was rich, spent all his time away from that family, and W.W. stands for something that we have no idea what it is).  Hale's story interested me.  Stolen paintings and emeralds?  Eh, it was cool but wasn't that cool to me.

The series is seriously well put together and everything is connected in one way or another.  A character shows up one book.  Don't think they'll come back again or show relevance?  HAHAHAHA.  Again, there's Hale's secret life, living the best of both worlds (Kat's world & his world).  All the conspiracies and dealings with Vasily Romani?  There's so much going on and it's literally so important to pay attention to the details because HELLO. THEY ARE A HEIST SOCIETY/ SPIES/ WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL THEM.

These characters are pretty awesome & yay for awesome female protagonists!  The only ones that really had character development though were Kat and Hale.  It kind of just felt like the other characters were there.  I mean, Nick and Uncle Eddie felt important, because they played pretty crucial roles, but Gabrielle, the twins, and Simon felt like fillers.  They were needed for something as a part of the Heist Society, but I wasn't really interested in their backstories as much as the other characters.

Now though I wasn't as a big a fan of the first 2 books, the last book makes it completely worth it.  Especially since the relationship between Kat and Hale is confusing to follow and you're not entirely sure if they're together.  It wasn't exactly established.  But I think learning much more about Hale & the fact that Kat may have something even bigger than herself to lose in the last book made it so much more enjoyable.  This series doesn't beat The Gallagher Girls series by far, but it's still pretty good.  The plots are awesome and unique & I do recommend it.  But read TGG series first.

Book Review: The Bridge from Me to You + UPDATE

Title/ Author:  The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder
Publisher/ Year:  Point, 2014.
How I Read It:  E-book, courtesy of NetGalley
Why I Read It:  I love contemporary and this sounded interesting.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Summary from Goodreads:  

Lauren has a secret. Colby has a problem. But when they find each other, everything falls into place. 

Lauren is the new girl in town with a dark secret. Colby is the football hero with a dream of something more. In alternating chapters, they come together, fall apart, and build something stronger than either of them thought possible--something to truly believe in.

QUICK UPDATE

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted anything in a while.  There's been so much going on like well, I just moved into college last week and I've been settling in and figuring out my schedule and when I can read/ blog/ do everything else.  I promise when I am more settled, I will post a lot more.  But, for now, this transition is a pretty big one.  

REVIEW TIME YAY

This book was only just okay for me.  It had its high moments, but there were parts where all I wanted to do was put this book down.  I couldn't just sit down and read it.  When I was getting near the end, it was a lot easier to get through the book, because I was looking forward to what would happen with Lauren and with Colby.  Let me just make this absolutely clear: The Bridge from Me to You is a very well written book.  Schroeder delivered very well in that area.  The plot, while interesting and entertaining, wasn't as complex as I wished it could be.  Sure, the characters had depth that made their characters relatable and believable, but for some reason, I wasn't as invested as I wish I was.

What I like a lot about this book is the fact that the romance was not the main concept of the book.  Of course, romance was a very prevalent part, but it was well balanced with Lauren's and Colby's issues.  Also, little things like Lauren's love of Bugles and Colby's love for bridges played out nicely throughout the novel and brought something to their characters.  Throughout the entire novel, since the moment they first met, you knew they wanted to be together, but the struggles of Lauren's difficult family life, the pressure of sports and Benny's accident came between them and attempted to pull their growing relationship apart.  It's the truth of reality.  Happily ever afters aren't gonna happen the way you want it to happen, but all you can do is keep hoping for the best, like Lauren and Colby.  Overall, their moments were cute, and they really did get each other's situation, so they knew how to comfort/ help each other through it...as friends, lovers, etc.  

The dual POV was interesting.  Lauren's POV was more poetic than Colby's.  It was confusing at first and honestly, I could have dealt without the dual POV.  Some books can pull it off, but frankly, I found it annoying.  Also, I thought it was weird how they both developed feelings for each other almost immediately.  Of course, they got to know each other, but just seeing both POVs alternating talking about how much they want to be with the other (and of course not even acting on it), it was pretty annoying at the beginning.  By the end, I was used to it.  But seriously, I did not like the dual POV.  Another thing I was sorta confused about was the fact that certain things are mentioned in the book but aren't brought up again until much later in the book, or not mentioned enough to a point where it felt unnecessary to have that aspect as a part of the book.

I was talking to my one friend about a quote I saw asking if it was accurate or just for her thoughts on it:

"Small-town life isloving the wide roads one day and wanting to leave and never look back the next.

But you accept that's how it is, because you're a part of something.  And because...it's home."

This part is from Lauren's POV, and I just think it's beautiful.  Moving to a new town, a small town, she had to learn how to accept it and live a life there.  My friend lives in a small town and she told me that this quote hit home for her.  And this quote is especially really beautiful because the setting is super important in the book.

Overall, it was a good, heartwarming story.  It's no Stephanie Perkins or Jenny Han novel, where all you get is butterflies and swooning, but it definitely makes you feel good at the end, whereas everything seems to be resolved in a way.