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aprildiamond's review against another edition
4.0
tbh I was sold when I read the description, because I love anything heist related. And for the most part, the book itself did not disappoint.
As you can probably tell by the name, this book has a lot to do with art. Whenever the book mentions an art piece, there's an actual link (for the ebook) and QR code that takes you to the museum website where you can see the art. I LOVE IT SO MUCH??? I think it's so creative and plus I just like looking at art lol
Story-wise, I really enjoyed how all the different characters and plot points came together. The formatting was cool too; with the time and date stamps it felt very cinematic. I was a bit disappointed by the resolution to the mystery, however. It made sense, I was just expecting more, but it's not a big deal in the context of my overall enjoyment.
Another note is that for the majority of the story, the main character Art is missing most of his memories, which was good for the plot but not so much for characterization. It was impossible for me to figure out what he was like. And since the other MC, Camille, had a lot more personality than him, he seemed like more of a background character. He got his memories back at the end, though, so I don't think this will be a big issue in the sequel.
As you can probably tell by the name, this book has a lot to do with art. Whenever the book mentions an art piece, there's an actual link (for the ebook) and QR code that takes you to the museum website where you can see the art. I LOVE IT SO MUCH??? I think it's so creative and plus I just like looking at art lol
Story-wise, I really enjoyed how all the different characters and plot points came together. The formatting was cool too; with the time and date stamps it felt very cinematic. I was a bit disappointed by the resolution to the mystery, however. It made sense, I was just expecting more, but it's not a big deal in the context of my overall enjoyment.
Another note is that for the majority of the story, the main character Art is missing most of his memories, which was good for the plot but not so much for characterization. It was impossible for me to figure out what he was like. And since the other MC, Camille, had a lot more personality than him, he seemed like more of a background character. He got his memories back at the end, though, so I don't think this will be a big issue in the sequel.
booksforchristiangirls's review against another edition
3.0
{3 stars for my personal rating, but I hesitate to give this rating for actual middle grade readers--see my notes below on that.}
Well, this was a fun book.
Think Home Alone meets the art forgery with a dash of The Mysterious Benedict Society. I thought it was really fun and well-done. Before starting, I noticed a couple reviews mentioned being very confused until the ending (which I can see why), so I went in with the mindset that everything was important and store it all on the back burner. This really was so funand I'm looking forward to reading the second book.
Edit to add: I ended up DNFing the second book due to political comments and only focusing/commenting on females with gay or liberal backgrounds. Disappointed, but not surprised.
(I read this book as a e-book from my library and I really liked the QR codes thrown in throughout the book to see the art being discussed. That was a neat feature!)
Content:
I can't quite figure out the age range for this book--I'm assuming middle grade--but there was a few comments/parts that would make me hesitate giving it to a younger middle grade reader. Such as our main characters (ages 12 and 10) are kidnapped and the bad guys aim stun guns at them. Adults are threatened with actual guns. There are also tranquilizer darts aimed and shot at our kiddos. Art also hears a gunshot and his father bleeding (obviously this is traumatic, but not above barely-above-not-detailed);
There's mentioned of TV shows, movies, characters (SpongeBob Squarepants, Adventure Time, Doctor Who, Ocean Eleven, Harry Potter, & Star Wars, etc); A few mentions of Starbucks; A few mentions of tattoos;
For "language", 1 'dang', 1 'for the love of...', 1 'heck', 3 'holy cow', 3 'stupid', 4 'freakin'/friggin'', ; A couple mentions someone cursing & eye rolling as well.
Well, this was a fun book.
Think Home Alone meets the art forgery with a dash of The Mysterious Benedict Society. I thought it was really fun and well-done. Before starting, I noticed a couple reviews mentioned being very confused until the ending (which I can see why), so I went in with the mindset that everything was important and store it all on the back burner. This really was so fun
Edit to add: I ended up DNFing the second book due to political comments and only focusing/commenting on females with gay or liberal backgrounds. Disappointed, but not surprised.
(I read this book as a e-book from my library and I really liked the QR codes thrown in throughout the book to see the art being discussed. That was a neat feature!)
Content:
I can't quite figure out the age range for this book--I'm assuming middle grade--but there was a few comments/parts that would make me hesitate giving it to a younger middle grade reader. Such as our main characters (ages 12 and 10) are kidnapped and the bad guys aim stun guns at them. Adults are threatened with actual guns. There are also tranquilizer darts aimed and shot at our kiddos. Art also hears a gunshot and his father bleeding (obviously this is traumatic, but not above barely-above-not-detailed);
There's mentioned of TV shows, movies, characters (SpongeBob Squarepants, Adventure Time, Doctor Who, Ocean Eleven, Harry Potter, & Star Wars, etc); A few mentions of Starbucks; A few mentions of tattoos;
For "language", 1 'dang', 1 'for the love of...', 1 'heck', 3 'holy cow', 3 'stupid', 4 'freakin'/friggin'', ; A couple mentions someone cursing & eye rolling as well.
mrspearce817's review against another edition
4.0
The Van Gogh Deception was a little difficult to get into immediately, but once I made it to part two, I couldn't put it down! Great, quick read with lots of twists.
emmrose's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
aseaoftomes's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
With this book, it'll be my third Deron R. Hicks book, and the book that solidifies him as a favorite author for me.
I absolutely loved this, and I'm finding that middle grade art mysteries like this, are one of my favorite things. It's advertised as Dan Brown-esque meets Jason Bourne for a younger audience and in a lot of ways it really is (art history and mystery mostly with amnesia and thriller elements).
This book follows our main protagonist, a boy who is discovered in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, but who has amnesia. As the book continues on, we find out that the boy, who has been dubbed Art, is being chased for a reason he's not sure of, and things kind of go from there.
The writing of this was well done - fast-paced, keeps you on the edge of your seat, decent plotting and characterization and twining plot. As with all of Hicks books, they're great for both adults and kids, but sometimes he goes on tangents about concepts and legal things, that could go over the "target age range's head" if you will. I absolutely loved those elements though, so it didn't really bother me, just something I thought I should mention.
The plot is generally what I mentioned above, but it's quite a bit more complex than I let on, but as it's a mystery/thriller, I don't want to give too much away.
The setting of this was also great. It takes place in Washington DC and I thought the descriptions of the places, especially the National Gallery was excellent. The art history elements were some of my absolute favorite things in the world and I LOVED the QR codes element (there are QR codes spread throughout the novel that link you directly to the painting in question on the museum website - it's brilliant). I think it's an absolutely fantastic way to enhance the reading experience and something I've never seen done before, but I'd love to see in more books.
Finally, the characters. Art was a fantastic character and one I felt like I could relate to in a lot of ways. I also adored Camille and Mary. Palmer was a fun bad guy and I enjoyed all of his hench-people too. All of the characters were well written and played a role, and I just really enjoyed them all.
All in all, a fantastic book and I can't wait to dive right into the next installment!
I absolutely loved this, and I'm finding that middle grade art mysteries like this, are one of my favorite things. It's advertised as Dan Brown-esque meets Jason Bourne for a younger audience and in a lot of ways it really is (art history and mystery mostly with amnesia and thriller elements).
This book follows our main protagonist, a boy who is discovered in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, but who has amnesia. As the book continues on, we find out that the boy, who has been dubbed Art, is being chased for a reason he's not sure of, and things kind of go from there.
The writing of this was well done - fast-paced, keeps you on the edge of your seat, decent plotting and characterization and twining plot. As with all of Hicks books, they're great for both adults and kids, but sometimes he goes on tangents about concepts and legal things, that could go over the "target age range's head" if you will. I absolutely loved those elements though, so it didn't really bother me, just something I thought I should mention.
The plot is generally what I mentioned above, but it's quite a bit more complex than I let on, but as it's a mystery/thriller, I don't want to give too much away.
The setting of this was also great. It takes place in Washington DC and I thought the descriptions of the places, especially the National Gallery was excellent. The art history elements were some of my absolute favorite things in the world and I LOVED the QR codes element (there are QR codes spread throughout the novel that link you directly to the painting in question on the museum website - it's brilliant). I think it's an absolutely fantastic way to enhance the reading experience and something I've never seen done before, but I'd love to see in more books.
Finally, the characters. Art was a fantastic character and one I felt like I could relate to in a lot of ways. I also adored Camille and Mary. Palmer was a fun bad guy and I enjoyed all of his hench-people too. All of the characters were well written and played a role, and I just really enjoyed them all.
All in all, a fantastic book and I can't wait to dive right into the next installment!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Violence
visibletouch's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the art history in this story and it reads as a pretty intense Middle Grade mystery, even though Art is a bit far fetched.
aerialcataloger's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent, Gun violence, and Fatphobia
bbliophile's review against another edition
4.0
I kind of fell in love with this book the moment I first had it in my hands. I loved the cover itself and I adored the deep blue color that the book was without it’s dust jacket, but opening the book and seeing it’s end pages was the best part because they had incredible Van Gogh art on them. I know it’s not the best way to go, but seeing this immediately raised my expectations of the book, because something that’s this beautiful on the outside must be amazing on the inside too, right?
Plus, the fact that this book combined art and middle grade mystery stories, two things I love a lot, didn’t help bring my very high expectations down. I was convinced I was going to absolutely adore this book.
So, the obvious question is probably: “did you end up loving this book?”. Well, the answer to that is yes, and no. I did have a lot of fun reading the book, and I managed to finish it very quickly (which is always a good sign for me), but there were a few things that I didn’t love about it. But let’s start with the good, shall we?
The book was incredibly fun. We follow a boy with amnesia who’s trying to figure out who he is, and a girl who tries to help him, while they’re trying to outsmart some bad guys. It’s very fast-paced and it’s entertaining to see how these kids get themselves out of some tricky situations. Besides this, the fact that this book involved art made it even more fun for me.
The thing I didn’t really love about the book was that it felt like it dragged quite a bit in the middle. There were about 150 pages of the kids just running from the bad guys, and while it was fun, I started getting a bit frustrated about the fact that we weren’t getting any clues as to who this boy was and what he was up to. I kind of wanted to skip ahead a few chapters, and just read how it all played out. I just wish that the author had given us a few more clues in the middle part of the book, instead of drop everything on us at the end.
Overall, the book was very entertaining and I would definitely recommend it, but there were a few things that kept this from being the perfect book for me.
Trigger warnings: kidnapping, death of parent, (gun-) violence
Plus, the fact that this book combined art and middle grade mystery stories, two things I love a lot, didn’t help bring my very high expectations down. I was convinced I was going to absolutely adore this book.
So, the obvious question is probably: “did you end up loving this book?”. Well, the answer to that is yes, and no. I did have a lot of fun reading the book, and I managed to finish it very quickly (which is always a good sign for me), but there were a few things that I didn’t love about it. But let’s start with the good, shall we?
The book was incredibly fun. We follow a boy with amnesia who’s trying to figure out who he is, and a girl who tries to help him, while they’re trying to outsmart some bad guys. It’s very fast-paced and it’s entertaining to see how these kids get themselves out of some tricky situations. Besides this, the fact that this book involved art made it even more fun for me.
The thing I didn’t really love about the book was that it felt like it dragged quite a bit in the middle. There were about 150 pages of the kids just running from the bad guys, and while it was fun, I started getting a bit frustrated about the fact that we weren’t getting any clues as to who this boy was and what he was up to. I kind of wanted to skip ahead a few chapters, and just read how it all played out. I just wish that the author had given us a few more clues in the middle part of the book, instead of drop everything on us at the end.
Overall, the book was very entertaining and I would definitely recommend it, but there were a few things that kept this from being the perfect book for me.
Trigger warnings: kidnapping, death of parent, (gun-) violence
jennifer1001's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
fullybookedlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like this is a book that adults love but kids won’t pick up. Also, one of the QR codes is broken. Just ok for me.