...in books

Review

Uncommon Criminals

by Ally Carter

Uncommon Criminals in the second book in the Heist Society series!

I highly recommend reading Heist Society first.

Otherwise you will spoil yourself!

First sentence:

Moscow can be a cold, hard place in winter.

Summary:

Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.
There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed.
Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend—the gorgeous Hale—and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.
Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

source: Goodreads

My opinion:

Oh how much I love this series.....

Ally Carter's writing is just so gripping and entertaining and her characters are always charming, funny and they stick together like glue even though they are not related or in a romantic relationship. I think there are not enough strong friendships in YA but the friendship between Kat and her crew is really refreshing.

After their first coup in Paris they are now forced to pull one in Monaco and they get a lot of competition. It puts their group dynamic a bit upside down and after regaining Hale's trust after their coup in Heist Society, now Kat is forced to go a bit behind his back and annoys him again.

I adore Hale – he is such an amazing guy and would do anything for his friends. Due to his family's background, his real name is W. W. Hale the Fifth, he is also able to provide almost everything for their coups. He is also a nice and caring guy, hell yeah, they exist (even in real life) and when I'm imagining him he also looks super handsome. He is also funny and sarcastic, can get angry and isn't one who cannot hold a grudge, as we all saw in Heist Society.

Kat is still struggling with coming from a line of thiefs and cannot really come to terms with accepting who her family is. Being a thief doesn't totally keep her from being a teenager – falling in love, fighting with friends and family, being angry at the world. Kat is, even though she steals art for a living, a really relate able character. I could not always understand why she does certain things but she has to learn to live her life in this world and that's what she does when she's not planning a coup or when she has some downtime.

Also on board with the heist they have to pull in Uncommon Criminals are Gabrielle, Simon, the twins and all the others from Kat's crew.

I loved experiencing another coup with Kat, Hale and their friends and I won't wait too long to read Perfect Scoundrels even though I will definitely be sad to say goodbye to them after the last book.

The books in the Heist Society series are:

• Heist Society (read my review here)
• Uncommon Criminals
• Perfect Scoundrels
• Double Crossed (short story combining her two series)

Ally Carter also wrote the amazing Gallagher Girls series about an all girl spy school which I can highly recommend as well.

For more information about Ally Carter visit her Homepage, Blog, Facebook or Twitter page.