[Book Review] The Good Thieves by Katherine Rundell

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :

From award-winning author Katherine Rundell comes a fast-paced, sharp-turning, and utterly thrilling adventure, one driven at its heart by an extraordinarily powerful evocation of the loyalty and love between a grandfather and his granddaughter. 

Fresh off the boat from England, Vita Marlowe has a job to do. Her beloved grandfather Jack has been cheated out of his home and possessions by a notorious conman with Mafia connections. Seeing Jack’s spirit is broken, Vita is desperate to make him happy again, so she devises a plan to outwit his enemies and recover his home. She finds a young pickpocket, working the streets of the city. And, nearby, two boys with highly unusual skills and secrets of their own are about to be pulled into her lawless, death-defying plan.

Katherine Rundell’s fifth novel is a heist as never seen before—the story of a group of children who will do anything to right a wrong. 

My rating :

3/5 stars.

My review :

It is a privilege to be receiving a book in exchange for an honest review. The Good Thieves was sent to me by @definitelybooks, thank you very much guys!

It’s been a while since the last time I read middle grade books and this book allowed me to do so. The Good Thieves introduced us to Vita, who had a mission of her own that had to be successfully accomplished. Landed from England to New York City, Vita’s big adventure eventually began in an endeavor to make his grandfather happy again. Indeed, there was an incident behind his melancholic self.

Here is my review for the book. I shall begin with the plot itself. As for me, the plot was not that bad, but I could not enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I got distracted pretty much all the time for how dull the plot was some times. There were undoubtedly some scenes that attracted my attention, like how the author exposed Vita’s adventure in fixing things to be right again. I adored the friendship in this book. It felt real and subtle, as each of them played different characters with different points of views respectively. These are some of the things that sort of saved the book and lifted it up a bit, as it would be worse when boredom overtook the whole plot and a reader like me would fall asleep from time to time.

In my opinion, I really wished the author could make the plot even more interesting and intriguing by adding more adventurous scenes. These scenes would make the story more mind-blowing and let middle graders to experience more exciting stuff through their imaginations.

The next part that I shall be reviewing is the characters. I adored the characters in this book, though I solemnly believe they could have more character developments. No offence, but I could not love Vita – the main character – as much as I wanted to. For some reason, she got me frustrated with some of her actions to the point that I felt she should not be doing anything in the first place if she could not do her job properly. Perhaps, the author could make Vita a much stronger and wiser character. Nevertheless, I appreciated Vita and her brilliant bravery that I seriously hoped I could inherit. Her bravery and her exuberance were highly inspiring to all readers (read: everyone) in general. Meanwhile, the rest of the cast was portrayed beautifully. Each of them played their own roles – friends, villains, etc. – and all of them were suitably casted. I must say, I did not have any big issue with the characters as I could not deny the fact that they were absolutely likeable.

Let us move on to the writing style. I wasn’t exposed to Katherine’s writing style before, so the first experience was wonderful. I loved how meticulous Katherine was with this story of hers through the exposure of her beautiful writing style. The dialogues and scripts in general were appropriate and well-fitted for readers of all ages. I am definitely giving high points for her own unique way of writing.

Overall, the story was not a bad journey, but it was not that exciting. There are always rooms for improvements, and I believe Katherine will do better for her future masterpieces.

My final rating for this book is 3/5 stars. 

Thank you Pansing for sending me a copy of The Good Thieves in exchange for an honest review. This book is available at all good bookstores.