Review: Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Title: Uncommon Criminals
Author: Ally Carter
Pages: 298
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Books, 2011

Goodreads Summary:
Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life: Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.

There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long — and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous, and that is . . . the emerald is cursed.

Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all, she has her best friend — the gorgeous Hale — and the rest of her crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the globe, dodging curses and realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.

Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.

My View:

It wasn't what I had been waiting for. Sadly, I had much greater expecations for this book.

Kat comes back into the thief world with a mission: to return all the unjustly stolen art to their homes. Sure, sounds like a good plan with potential for good stories with thrills.

Yet somewhere, it went amiss in this book.

Kat continues to struggle with the fact that she is back to the life she tries to run away from. Then throw in the two boys, Nick and W.W. Hale the Fifth (we do not learn Hale's name in this book, sadly) and you have a very confused girl.

Normally I'm all for confused girls (actually not really) because it makes them seem like more realistic characters. Except, this time it didn't. Kat is already beyond realistic, with her life as a theif, so making her normal with confusion over life and guys just didn't really suit my fancy. Don't get me wrong, it's better than having a flawless girl and better than constantly depressed/lack self-confidence girl. I didn't see Kat's character develop much from book one to book two.

Writing style: same as always. Though I will admit that there were times that I was much confused about what was going on. And I pretty much saw Nick as an irrelavent character who Carter just brought back because of fan girls. (Not a Nick fan, sorry :P)

The heist: it lacked adventure, drama and danger. In my opinion, it was too quick and too easy. There really wasn't anything hanging on the line, except for perhaps pride.

Overall:

It was an okay book. Not what I had expected, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was dull, and confusing at times and no real relationship movement.

Rating: 3.5/5

Karina

P.S. Remember that we're going to be meeting Ally Carter on the 27th, so if anyone has any questions that you would like us to ask her, post a comment!