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A review by tkolsen
Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Beautiful setting, funny characters, and high-stakes action. This has everything I love about Ally Carter, plus the adorable swoon-worthy love interest. In a way I like this story better than first in the series even though it has several issues that bothered me upon re-reading as an adult.
But as far as the pros I think this story has one of Carter's more interesting villains in Maggie the con artist. The mobster (Taccone) in Heist Society is a very black and white bad guy, who feels like a stock character at times. Maggie on the other hand is more insidious and mysterious. None of the main characters understand where she is from or what she is capable of for the majority of the story. And while Taccone represented all that was dark and evil about the criminal world Kat tried to run away from before the events of the first book, Maggie is a mirror and represents all the good and bad Kat could become.
As far as cons, a lot of my issues with this lie with the series overall and Kat's development in the books. While this first book focuses on Kat wanting to live a normal life because she's had a crisis of conscience with the family business. It's never addressed what exactly drove her to that point after committing crimes herself for years with no issue, including conning her way into the "normal life" she aspires to. Eventually over the course of Heist Society she decides that stealing for the right reasons is acceptable, and at the beginning of Uncommon Criminals she has pulled multiple heists on her own continuing to avoid her family. Again the root of why Kat has issues with stealing and avoids everyone from her past is not addressed directly, beyond her cousin suggesting that she has gotten overconfident in her success and finds it easier not to deal with her budding romantic relationship. The Whys? in these books are almost never addressed though the character always reaches a moment where she learns that she is better off working with others than on her own, both as a thief and a person.
If the author ever chose to revisit this series (even though it has been 10+ years since book 3 was released) I'd love to see Kat address the root of her issues with her family, even if only in an inner monologue.
But as far as the pros I think this story has one of Carter's more interesting villains in Maggie the con artist. The mobster (Taccone) in Heist Society is a very black and white bad guy, who feels like a stock character at times. Maggie on the other hand is more insidious and mysterious. None of the main characters understand where she is from or what she is capable of for the majority of the story. And while Taccone represented all that was dark and evil about the criminal world Kat tried to run away from before the events of the first book, Maggie is a mirror and represents all the good and bad Kat could become.
As far as cons, a lot of my issues with this lie with the series overall and Kat's development in the books. While this first book focuses on Kat wanting to live a normal life because she's had a crisis of conscience with the family business. It's never addressed what exactly drove her to that point after committing crimes herself for years with no issue, including conning her way into the "normal life" she aspires to. Eventually over the course of Heist Society she decides that stealing for the right reasons is acceptable, and at the beginning of Uncommon Criminals she has pulled multiple heists on her own continuing to avoid her family. Again the root of why Kat has issues with stealing and avoids everyone from her past is not addressed directly, beyond her cousin suggesting that she has gotten overconfident in her success and finds it easier not to deal with her budding romantic relationship. The Whys? in these books are almost never addressed though the character always reaches a moment where she learns that she is better off working with others than on her own, both as a thief and a person.
If the author ever chose to revisit this series (even though it has been 10+ years since book 3 was released) I'd love to see Kat address the root of her issues with her family, even if only in an inner monologue.