Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter | Book Review

Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Heist Society #2
First Published: 2011
Hardcover
Young Adult, Contemporary
Rating:

"You're a smart girl, Katarina--too smart to take stupid chances. Better thieves than you have gone after that blasted stone, and they have paid"
Uncle Eddie stopped, and Kat could have sworn she saw his hands shake. His lips were a thin hard line when he whispered, "Great thieves have paid dearly."
Kat's voice was different when she said, "I know."
"We do not steal the Cleopatra, Katarina. It is..." Eddie trailed off, struggling for words.
"Cursed," Kat offered.
Eddie turned to her. He shock his head. "Forbidden."

So, if you read my review of Heist Society, you probably didn't expect me to pick up book two. I didn't think I'd do that, either. But then, while looking through my local bookstore, I found a hardcover copy of Uncommon Criminals and I just... thought it was so damned pretty. #Shallow

I was hoping Uncommon Criminals might actually live to the potential of the awesome idea behind these books, but while it was a better read than the first, it was by no mean anything incredible.

Maybe Carter's writing is just not for me - a lot of people praise this book as an exciting and fast story. To me, the book was the complete opposite - it was a fast read, sure, but the content of the book felt slow and somewhat anticlimactic.

I did like Kat a whole lot more in this book. While she's always been likable, she's also been a flat character. In this installment, she's added more depth and felt a lot more rounded. She still lacked a past, but it wasn't as intolerable as in Heist Society.

Alongside Kat, Hale and Gabrielle get an upgrade in the depth department as well. Unfortunately, Simon and the brothers are left as the one dimensional decoration they were in Heist Society which sucks because I really like these characters. Far more than I like Gabrielle.

As for the romance - it was still such a small, undeveloped and unsatisfying part of the plot, but I am proud to say I'm Team Hale, and luckily (if I'm reading things correctly) he's also endgame, so yay for me! Though, I don't think my curiosity in that aspect is enough to make me read on with this series.

One thing that really bothered me and drove me nuts were the heists themselves. Lots of parts were just left out and made no sense at all! Like, the Interpol. For god's sake, how did they make all these things explode? Or the doves and the casino. Maybe those are actually robot doves and that's why they did exactly what they wanted them to.

I felt like Carter thought of all those interesting ideas for the heists, but had no idea how to explain them... so she didn't, believing the reader would just suck it up despite it. It may not bother everyone, but to me this was a major issue.

Maybe book three will be better. Maybe not. I'll probably never find out.