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loveat1stwrite 's review for:
Medici Heist
by Caitlin Schneiderhan
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was given an eARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to the renaissance. The scene is Florence, 1517, and the Medici family rules the city with a puppet Pope at their side. Extorting the people of Tuscany, the Medici’s sit upon an exorbitant pile of indulgence money. Con-woman Rosa Cellini hopes to steal it right from under their noses, *if* she can pull off the greatest heist of all time.
Medici Heist introduces us to a diverse cast of characters, each getting their individual times to shine. Rosa will need to rope the best of the best into her crew if she wants to steal a mountain of money and live to tell the tale. Her team consists of Sarra the tinkerer, Agata the apothecary, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo the master of disguise. To top it all off, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of Michelangelo (yes, THAT Michelangelo).
This was a super fun read that solidly sets the scene in historic Italy. It does a fantastic job of incorporating the setting into the story and has beautiful descriptions, great scheming, and entertaining action scenes. This was truly the foundation of a terrific book. What knocks this down a star is the lack of dimension. I’d liken the experience to reading a play. The play loses something in the written form without actors adding in the depth and emotion. Actors bring a lifeless script to life by adding emotions and tone to the text. My favorite authors craft characters that jump off the page and while Medici Heist was descriptive, cinematic even, the characters fell a bit flat. I was not surprised to find out after reading that Schneiderhan is a script writer.
Let’s dive into the character work more specifically. The characters were funny, they had their roles to play, and I enjoyed the story they had to tell. Yet, they were all just too shallow and underdeveloped. Some further revision of the novel could have massaged a bit more life and personality into them. While I could suspend my disbelief and still enjoy the ride (it is a great heist), the POV’s were just too weak for me to give this book five stars.
If you love a good setting with a great atmosphere, I’d still recommend this read! It has great vibes but could have benefitted from deeper character work.
Welcome to the renaissance. The scene is Florence, 1517, and the Medici family rules the city with a puppet Pope at their side. Extorting the people of Tuscany, the Medici’s sit upon an exorbitant pile of indulgence money. Con-woman Rosa Cellini hopes to steal it right from under their noses, *if* she can pull off the greatest heist of all time.
Medici Heist introduces us to a diverse cast of characters, each getting their individual times to shine. Rosa will need to rope the best of the best into her crew if she wants to steal a mountain of money and live to tell the tale. Her team consists of Sarra the tinkerer, Agata the apothecary, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo the master of disguise. To top it all off, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of Michelangelo (yes, THAT Michelangelo).
This was a super fun read that solidly sets the scene in historic Italy. It does a fantastic job of incorporating the setting into the story and has beautiful descriptions, great scheming, and entertaining action scenes. This was truly the foundation of a terrific book. What knocks this down a star is the lack of dimension. I’d liken the experience to reading a play. The play loses something in the written form without actors adding in the depth and emotion. Actors bring a lifeless script to life by adding emotions and tone to the text. My favorite authors craft characters that jump off the page and while Medici Heist was descriptive, cinematic even, the characters fell a bit flat. I was not surprised to find out after reading that Schneiderhan is a script writer.
Let’s dive into the character work more specifically. The characters were funny, they had their roles to play, and I enjoyed the story they had to tell. Yet, they were all just too shallow and underdeveloped. Some further revision of the novel could have massaged a bit more life and personality into them. While I could suspend my disbelief and still enjoy the ride (it is a great heist), the POV’s were just too weak for me to give this book five stars.
If you love a good setting with a great atmosphere, I’d still recommend this read! It has great vibes but could have benefitted from deeper character work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization