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katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Exhilarating heist story for children, a period piece with immigrants, jewels and a host of young heroes.
Girl Savage an impressive debut, Rooftoppers was a stunning and award-winning book. I love seeing an author switch genres and keep us guessing as to where s/he will take us next. And Rundell here takes the period route and gives young readers an exciting story usually left for adults - the heist/robbery.
Vita and her mother scrape together the money to reach New York when letters from her grandfather show distress. His family home and jewels have been tricked out of his possession and he is living in near poverty. Taking the initiative, Vita investigates the wealthy man who dishonestly cheated her grandfather, and discovers that it might be possible to gain it back... but she'll need some help.
With a few conveniently-placed accomplices, other children with 'special skills', Vita assembles a team that can hopefully pull off a clever plan to return what is rightfully her family's.
Loved the setting and characters, enjoyed the backstory of Vita's grandfather, and the villainy of the bad guy. The heist will have readers turning pages to see just what Vita's team manage to do, and Vita's skill of knife-throwing was very well used in the action.
Exciting. Would make a good mini-series on television.
Enjoyed the audio version from Audible, narrated with clarity, though the voice sounded older than Vita, she made an easy-to-follow narrator.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
Girl Savage an impressive debut, Rooftoppers was a stunning and award-winning book. I love seeing an author switch genres and keep us guessing as to where s/he will take us next. And Rundell here takes the period route and gives young readers an exciting story usually left for adults - the heist/robbery.
Vita and her mother scrape together the money to reach New York when letters from her grandfather show distress. His family home and jewels have been tricked out of his possession and he is living in near poverty. Taking the initiative, Vita investigates the wealthy man who dishonestly cheated her grandfather, and discovers that it might be possible to gain it back... but she'll need some help.
With a few conveniently-placed accomplices, other children with 'special skills', Vita assembles a team that can hopefully pull off a clever plan to return what is rightfully her family's.
Loved the setting and characters, enjoyed the backstory of Vita's grandfather, and the villainy of the bad guy. The heist will have readers turning pages to see just what Vita's team manage to do, and Vita's skill of knife-throwing was very well used in the action.
Exciting. Would make a good mini-series on television.
Enjoyed the audio version from Audible, narrated with clarity, though the voice sounded older than Vita, she made an easy-to-follow narrator.
With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.
beetroots's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
aradhnak's review against another edition
5.0
This was so good. I loved it. Will come back with a full review soon.
*EDITED*
received this copy in exchange for an honest review from Definitely Books (Pansing). All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you Pansing!
This book is available where all good books are.
This was such a fun and quick read that gave me so much joy to read. It was so smartly written!
The Good Thieves is a middle grade heist novel following Vita, a young girl who comes to New York with her mother to convince her grandfather to move back to England (I think?) with them after he is cheated out of his home by a businessman. Vita is smart, fierce, and angry. She is also easy to spot in a crowd because she has a weak left leg.
Vita, after hearing her grandfather’s story and seeing his despondence, makes the decision to try and get justice, and she finds three other young children to help her out. The four children are very distinctive and come together very neatly, balancing each other’s personalities out.
Arkady and Samuel are circus kids, who want to break away from their families’ acts to follow their own passion. Silk is a young pickpocket on the streets who runs into Vita, and finds something to fight for in the process.
Without too many spoilers, this story has many threads woven through it that come together very nicely in the climax. It gave me a lot of Leverage vibes, and that is one of my favourite shows, if not my absolute favourite. I loved it so much, and will be re-reading it soon!
*EDITED*
received this copy in exchange for an honest review from Definitely Books (Pansing). All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you Pansing!
This book is available where all good books are.
This was such a fun and quick read that gave me so much joy to read. It was so smartly written!
The Good Thieves is a middle grade heist novel following Vita, a young girl who comes to New York with her mother to convince her grandfather to move back to England (I think?) with them after he is cheated out of his home by a businessman. Vita is smart, fierce, and angry. She is also easy to spot in a crowd because she has a weak left leg.
Vita, after hearing her grandfather’s story and seeing his despondence, makes the decision to try and get justice, and she finds three other young children to help her out. The four children are very distinctive and come together very neatly, balancing each other’s personalities out.
Arkady and Samuel are circus kids, who want to break away from their families’ acts to follow their own passion. Silk is a young pickpocket on the streets who runs into Vita, and finds something to fight for in the process.
Without too many spoilers, this story has many threads woven through it that come together very nicely in the climax. It gave me a lot of Leverage vibes, and that is one of my favourite shows, if not my absolute favourite. I loved it so much, and will be re-reading it soon!
ezra_19227's review against another edition
5.0
I found this at the bookstore and started reading right away after reading the summary and seeing the amazing cover. I give this book 5/5 and the ending was a great one
thefootballgirl6's review against another edition
Ich fand das Buch nicht sooooo toll, und habe mehr Lust, etwas anderes zu lesen.
jennyvetvik's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a kids book, but I absolutely loved it!! Such a cute story featuring strong and lovable characters. I didn’t find their ages very believable, which was probably one of the bigger hurdles for me.
gayathiri_rajendran's review against another edition
4.0
This middle grade book is such a gem.It has a strong plot with suspense filled pages and good characters.The setting of the story was great.The main character is one of the strongest protagonists I have come across.The book is very enjoyable and it has all the elements like love,friendship,family,suspense etc.A very enjoyable read and a welcome break!
ducky226's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5