Hello, what do you do when you read a book and love the cast of characters so much you want to adopt them and would die for their safety and happiness? Because. That’s me. With this book. Immoral Code has been on my radar for a while because 1/ Contemporary teen heist book (!!!) and 2/ One of the MCs is aroace!!!! So when I got the chance to review it, I jumped on it and started reading right away and it did NOT disappoint.

The writing is just like I absolutely love it to be, it’s fun, engaging, with EXTREMELY distinct narrative voices, every main character got their quirks and peculiarities that made them stand out from the rest, which is a necessity when you have five different point of views that all have equal importance. It’s also smooth in switching between action scene narration style and beautiful prose when it’s exploring feelings and emotions and that’s something I really appreciate in a book. It also genuinely felt like being inside teenagers’ heads with a lot of inner ramblings and thought processes getting sidetracked at times, which I really enjoyed.

The book starts when Bellamy, one of our five main characters gets denied for financial aid to attend MIT because of her super uber wealthy estranged father. Only trouble is, Bellamy is poor and definitely can’t afford MIT without it, and said father is estranged to the point where she’s never seen him, talked to him, and is NOT paying for college. Enter, Narioka (Nari, for short), hacker extraordinaire and Bellamy’s best friend, who proposes they steal the money she’s owed from her father’s company bank accounts. Heist and complications ensue.

The one criticism I have for this book is that I wish there was more of the heist? I didn’t mind that much (I mean…I still rated it 4.5 stars) since I adored the characters, but I just wanted *more* about the heist itself and a more in depth, detailed, view into the logistics of it all. That being said, the heist itself GAVE ME HEART PALPITATIONS!!!! These teenagers are such brave, amazing, smart fools. And my heart is so full of love for them that I could NOT handle them being in a precarious situation like that. Other than that, I wouldn’t really call this book *fast-paced*, it has a good pace, but it’s very much character oriented.

The fact that this book centers a heist in a contemporary setting, committed but people who cannot be farther away from criminals, gave way for a discussion of right, wrong and morality. And through having multiple main characters who are very different individuals we got to see very different takes on the issue as well as those views sometimes clashing and sometimes meeting in the middle for a compromise. From the “WHAT WE’RE DOING IS WRONG, PLAIN WRONG!!!” take to the “Bellamy is owed this!!!!” take, including the “Yes it’s wrong, but wrong thing for the right reasons” take and that was extremely interesting to read.

My favorite thing about the book is the characters, hands down, no questions asked. Immoral Code gets you to care so very deeply and so very fast about each one of them. I found myself rooting for them and wanting to know more about them a couple chapters into the book. And the more I learned, the more I loved them and more I wanted to know about them. And I genuinely cannot pick a favorite, which is something that’s never happened to me, I always have a soft spot for one character in big casts like this, but NOPE, not this time.

First up, we have Nari, Japanese-American hacktivist, coding genius, and style icon. She exudes so much confidence and her presence is just so…loud and eclipsing, it’s not only something we’re told from other characters’ POVs about also something that just translated through the pages from her perspective. She’s a natural leader, loud, sassy and very protective of her friends, especially Bellamy, who’s been her best friend since second grade. So much confidence can also make her arrogant at times which she can bite her fingers over later on.

Next is Keagan, Nari’s boyfriend and your local Soft Boy. He’s sensitive, caring, and the definition of a good person and their moral compass throughout the mission. I sincerely believe that they would have gone much farther in their heist if he wasn’t there to pull back a little every time. He’s also the only one of the group who has no big dreams and no clear idea of what he wants from his life after high school, which he’s quite content with, until…he’s not. He starts feeling insecure, especially with having friends with such big dreams and I loved that there was a discussion around this and it was normalized, because teenagers are under so much pressure to have everything figured out at eighteen when…they’re barely starting out on life. So the fact that this book says “Yes that’s cool and all, but not having a clue what you want is cool too” is a huge win for me.

Then we have Bellamy, physics genius, aspiring astronaut and the heart of the mission. She’s somewhat of a shy girl with a heart of gold, she just doesn’t want to inconvenience anyone so she just sort of just…goes with the flow. I also loved how much of a well of informations she was, she just has fun facts about anything and everything. Next up we have Santiago, Mexican-American swimmer boy whose biggest dream is to make it into the Olympics, a dream that’s met with some push back from his parents who want him to focus on school to secure himself a good stable future, which…diving doesn’t guarantee. He’s funny and kind of the bomb diffuser of the group, whenever there’s some tension, he’s the one doing the most to get it under control.

Last but not least, Reese my aroace queen. She has such a “I don’t give a cent about your opinion” attitude and vibe about her because caring about what people think gives them power over you and she is NOT here for that. Her policy is ignorance and she also does not like to meddle in people’s business, even when said people are her best friends, as long as their business makes them happy, that’s all she cares about, she doesn’t need the details of it all (especially when it comes to romance). She’s so utterly comfortable with who she is. I adored that her aroace-ness was never an issue or source of conflict for her, and I adore the discussion around it.

I loved every single relationship in this. The group friendship was great, no one was ever left out of made to feel like a dead weight (especially with there being two couples-ish + Reese) and the way they cared about each other just felt so… real and genuine, they had all kinds of conversations ranging from silly to deep at 3 in the morning. I also appreciated that there was care put not only into the group friendship but into every individual friendship as well.

And can we talk about the romances? Nari and Keagan’s relationship sturdiness and their complete fate for their love in each other and their future together warmed my heart. Even when they fight and disagree, they never thought things wouldn’t work out and that made me so emotional *cries*. And in contrast, we had Bellamy and Santiago, for whom everything is new after so long being friends, the tentativeness of it all was so soft and the way Santiago talked about her as if she hang the moon was CUTE. I just loved it all. And I liked that the author showed more than one example of what it’s like to be in a relationship in high school.

Immoral Code is so nerdy and science oriented, it made my little nerdy heart happy. And that ending was an EMOTIONAL rollercoaster while still being immensely satisfying. I just *clenches fist* LOVE THIS SO MUCH, and the rep that I got through Reese meant the world to my aromantic heart.

Immoral Code by Lillian Clark is a young adult contemporary that follows a group of five friends. Each of the group have a voice in the story as they come together to try to help one solve their problem of getting to college.

Nari is the hacker of the group and as you may guess plays a big part of the story, Keagan is Nari’s boyfriend, Reese has plans to travel the world, Santiago a champion diver having secured a scholarship to Stanford and then there’s Bellamy who’s dream has always been going to MIT.

Bellamy had gotten the news of an acceptance into MIT and couldn’t have been happier, that is until finding out money was going to be a problem. Having planned on financial aid and getting turned down there’s no way Bellamy being raised by a single mother can pay for the school. Bellamy’s father however is a billionaire who signed her away years before and since his wealth is keeping the MIT dream out of reach why not hack away a few thousand, she deserves it, right?

I actually rather enjoyed the story in Immoral Code, I mean who can’t help but feel for the teen who knows who their father is but he wasn’t man enough to be in her life? The thing that kept me from really loving this one was when switching between each character’s voice I would often forget who it was. Each should have more of a personality instead of blending together to me. In the end I would give this one 3.5 stars, still a fun read but perhaps a bit bland on character development.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

DNF at 32%. Too aware of its own attempted cleverness for me to continue with it. Also, if this forty something reviewer finds the pop culture references dated, how will actual teens view it? (Although maybe what's dated is now new again?!)

After working for years and finally achieving her dream of MIT, Bellamy thought she was shut out, because her estranged father was too wealthy and had not offered to help with tuition. Nari hoped to right this wrong using her hacking skills, as she and the rest of their friends embarked on this morally grey mission.

I am starting with a warning: This book features five points of view. I see many readers lament about too many POVs, but I thought Clark did a good job keeping them distinct. There was only one chapter, where I thought Reese didn't sound like herself, but other than that, I easily distinguished between each character, and I must say, this was quite an interesting bunch of people.

I loved how they all brought something intriguing to the table. From a desire to explore space to Olympic dreams, I found myself wanting to learn more about these teens. And, they also were all dealing with common issues - divorce, parental expectations, panic about the future, romantic relationships, and such. I liked that these things were included, and felt like woven into the overall story quite well.

From the synopsis, you would think this book was all about the Ocean's 11 style heist, and it did occupy quite a bit of the book, but what drew me in and kept me there, was the beautiful friendship shared between them. How many of your friends would commit a felony for you? That's some fierce loyalty.

Another thing I really liked was the outcome of the mission. They went into it, ready to get the MIT money, but each of them gained something intangible as a result of this challenge. All of them changed in some way, and so did the group dynamic, and I think all the changes were very positive.

Overall: A solid debut highlighted by a fierce friendship.

I can't put my finger on what I didn't love about this book but it just wasn't for me. It had a good story, but the writing or characters some how fell flat. I do think that some of my students might enjoy it, it just didn't grab me at this moment in time. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love a good heist book and 2019 truly seems to be the year of heist books but unfortunately, Immoral Code was not everything I wanted it to be. It’s the kind of book that has good bones but ultimately, neither the writing style nor the pacing worked for me.

The entire time I was reading the book, the characters voices felt sort of inauthentic? But upon reflection I don’t think the fact that they were all self-aware makes them inauthentic, I am an extremely self-aware human being, but I think self-awareness doesn’t always translate as well in writing. This book is written in a very free, stream-of-consciousness style and yes, human beings constantly think that way but also, I don’t want to hear every single thought an MC has.

Throw in 5 povs and it’s basically just confusion galore. I was at least a quarter of the way into the book before I was able to even differentiate whose chapter was whose. WHICH, YES, the heading tells you which character it is BUT STILL. They all read EXACTLY the same. It took me a while to figure out who was in charge, who the crew was committing the heist for, etc.

SPEAKING OF THE HEIST. I was pretty fucking sad that most of the book is actually planning for the heist/getting to the location. The heist itself doesn’t take place until about the 65% mark (based on where I was at in the kindle version) and was honestly not nearly as exciting as I wanted it to be.

There is also a lot of unnecessary drama that could have easily been avoided if the characters, who have been best friends for a long time, just did the bare minimum and COMMUNICATED WITH EACH OTHER. One of the characters is really having a hard time wrapping his head around the moral implications of what they are going to do. He agreed to be part of the heist (which he shouldn’t have) but then has second thoughts. No one takes even a minute to have an open conversation with him about what is going to happen. Everyone is defensive and accusations are thrown and feelings are hurt. ALL OF THIS COULD HAVE BEEN SO EASILY AVOIDED it hurt.

I really don’t have anything good to say about this book aside from the fact that it was tolerable enough that I got to the end and didn’t hate the ending (but also felt that the ending made everything feel pointless.) I don’t think Immoral Code is even an inherently bad book. I personally had a lot of issues with the stream-of-consciousness writing style which made it a lot harder to enjoy the book.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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It's their senior year, their lives are stretching out before them, this incredibly close group of five friends are preparing for graduation, college, etc. -- even (not that they'll confront this quite yet) living without each other. They all excel in one or two ways -- one's a hacker/activist, one's an artist, one's got a real shot at the Olympics -- etc. One is a physics genius (or close enough to a genius to count) who was admitted early to MIT. But there's a catch. She can't afford it. Her mom works two jobs to help the two of them barely make it and her dad hasn't been in her life since he was a poor student and impregnated her mom. Since then he's gone on to become one of the richest of the rich. The kind of rich that people really can't believe exists. So when MIT looks at her financial aid, they roll their eyes and move on to the next student.

Not content to shake their heads sadly at injustice, her friends come up with a plan to hack into her dad's company and skim a little bit of money. Not enough that he'd ever notice -- just enough to pay tuition for a year. Their hacker friend is good, but not good enough to break in remotely -- she has to be physically in touch with the network -- for just a few seconds. Like the tagline on the cover says, "Payback is a glitch." So over Spring Break they take a little road trip -- bigger than their families know -- to get access to the network. It's going to take a lot of nerve, some real disregard for the law, and their combined talents to pull this off.

The question they don't really consider until it's too late isn't what will happen if they fail (although, they all could think of that more), it's what happens if they succeed?

On the whole, I haven't seen many people classifying this as a Crime Novel, despite the Heist story at the core. It's definitely not a thriller. Because the Heist story is just an excuse to talk about friendship, figuring your life out, the pressure on teens to know what they want the next few decades to be about (not the same as the previous item on the list), the complicated relationship that exists between parents and their teens on the cusp of adulthood, and the hugeness of the moment where you leave home/family/friends to start the next phase of your life. Oh, also, morality. Somehow Clark does all that while telling a fast-moving, funny, and heart-felt story.

Which is not to say that the Heist story isn't important, or well executed. And you can read the book just for the Heist. But you'll miss out on a lot -- and you'll probably wonder why I rated this so highly. As fun as the Heist/prep for the Heist is, the heart of the book is the rest.

Each chapter jumps between first-person narration from each kid, keeping things moving nicely. There's plenty to like/identify with in each character. You learn a lot about them as individuals, them as friends, and generally them as children (not that much about them as students, oddly). They're so well-drawn, I'm sure what I respond to in one character or another will not be the same as what another reader responds to. There is one character who serves as the group's Jiminy Cricket -- their vocal and ever-present conscience. Like Jiminy, the character is ignored a lot and fought against. But I appreciated them -- the voice of moral reason, the one trying to save the others from themselves, the only one who demonstrated a sense of right and wrong, not just about what feels right.

The writing is breezy, engaging -- no matter whose POV you're reading. Clark did a fantastic job differentiating the characters, giving them all a unique voice so that you don't even have to pay attention to the indicator at the beginning of the chapter to know whose voice is telling that particular chapter. Now, as each chapter is told from the Point of View of a teenager, and fairly realistically done, that means you have to check your inner grammarian at the door -- so much of this book can drive you around the bend if you don't.

The novel is engaging, it's beyond that really -- it's infectious.There were several points during reading that I asked myself why I was enjoying it as much as I was. Not that I thought I should dislike it, but I liked it a lot more than I should have. I don't mind that I did, I'm just not sure I understand why. I'm just going to chalk it up to Lillian Clark being a very good author -- someone you should check out, starting with her debut, Immoral Code.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Random House Children's Books via NetGalley in exchange for this post -- thanks to both for this.

Book Review: Immoral Code by Lillian Clark

Release date: February 19, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For five teens just months away from graduating, life couldn’t be better. They have their futures planned out, they’re making plans, they’re all super close. Life is good.

Well, until it turns out that Bellamy can’t go to MIT because her estranged father is super rich. But master hacker Nari isn’t going to let her friend’s dreams get crushed so quickly and she comes up with a plan to steal just enough money to cover Bellamy’s first year at MIT. Not a problem, right?

The marketing slug for this book is “Ocean’s 11 meets The Breakfast Club” and that’s actually pretty accurate. If you like either of those you’ll be satisfied. If you like both of those you’ll really enjoy the book.

The book centers on the friendships among a diverse group of friends. To Clark’s credit, each is fleshed out with a distinct voice and set of goals (even if some of them are really beaten over your head). I appreciated the diversity of thought and race, and I especially loved the ace/aro representation in Reese.

The book is well-paced and just the right length. The only thing that bothered me was the stream of consciousness writing, which is very grating when you start. And not just stream of consciousness, but like meme-ridden, internet-heavy, highest-energy intensity. I don’t know if anyone thinks like that all the time, but even if they do, it took about half the book for me to adapt to that.

Then again, I’m also well out of my teenage years and not the target audience for this book. I think it’s very possible that teens will see themselves in these characters and cherish every intense word.

I would recommend this book to younger people who enjoy heist movies/books, anyone who wants to read about an awesome ace/aro character, and anyone looks for a fun and light read with a happy ending.

I gave it a 3/5 on my Goodreads account which translates to “I liked it.”

Posted to Goodreads: Bellamy has spent her whole life trying to be a success so she can help her struggling single mother. Bellamy can finally see the payoff of all her hard work with her acceptance to MIT but when she is denied financial aid because of her wealthy estranged father her friends decide that they can help her. The group lead by Bellamy's hacker best friend, Nari, decide that they will pull off a heist to skim money from Bellamy's father to help her dreams come true.

I loved the premise of this book but the execution just didn't work for me. There felt like there were way too many characters and that they weren't really distinct enough for me to keep them straight. Also, the narrative voice, while unique, definitely needed editing with the characters often going off on tangents that didn't move the plot along at all. I did enjoy aspects of the heist however that was not enough to save this book for me.

I really enjoyed this book. I love that they had charcters from a variety of backgrounds. The story line was superb and I could really identify with the charcters. I really found San and Nari to be my favorite charcters. Bellamy was the one I identified with. Her struggle was very real and is a huge problem within gmanynfamilies in America. The book can be for many different age levels. It was a great read.

This was such a fun, masterful, heart warming YA take on a heist novel! I adored Nari, Bellamy, Reese, Santiago, and Keagan as narrators, each with their own unique voice and hopes and dreams. This took a few unexpected turns and kept me hooked until the last page.

For me, good Young Adult thrillers (I guess you would classify this as one) are hard to come by. This has been one of the exceptions. The heist, while some may think it is petty or unrealistic, is exactly the opposite of those things. The writing paired with the story made for an entertaining story from start to finish.

This was a great book. All the characters are well written and the storyline is fantastic. I loved how each of the main characters had their own issues and quirks and the way they came together as a team to help Bellamy after her dad’s (who has never acknowledged her) fortune prevents her from obtaining the financial aid she needs to attend the college of her dreams. From start to finish this was a great read!

Its been a long time since I've read a book where the characters in the book are written as real as they come. Jist of the plot - 5 friends in the mist of their senior year of high school plan to hack into the bank accounts of a super wealthy entrepreneur to get some petty case to pay tution for one of their own who just happens to be the entrepreneur's son. These kids are not spoiled in anyway shape or form and this is the first time in a long time that I have liked every character in a ensenmble book!

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is a story about five teens in the Spring of their Senior year deciding to help one of their group scam her absentee father for the amount of money she needs to go to school at MIT. The kids are all bright, articulate, and best friends.

Nari is a computer genius who has a secret identity as a hacker. She intents to go to college and then have a career at one of the big computer/tech companies. She a self-confident steamroller who has the force of personality to get the rest of the kids to buy into her plan.

Keagan is Nari's boyfriend. He is unique in the group for not knowing what his future will bring. He has no big career plans. He does have a firm sense of tight and wrong which brings him into conflict with the rest of the kids. His parents are this century's version of hippies.

Reese is an artist and independent sort. She self-identifies as acearo which was a new sexual category for me. She dramatic and is dealing with parents who are on the verge of divorce. Her plans are to use the money she's made from her Etsy account to travel the world until the money runs out. After that, art school in New York.

Santiago is a diver who has very real Olympic hopes. He's been accepted at Stanford with a diving scholarship. His parents are Hispanic immigrants who are urging him to give up his Olympic dreams for a more practical future.

Bellamy is a genius who is fascinated with physics and space exploration and most of the other scientific "ologies." She and her mother are poor. Her mother had had at seventeen and has been working two jobs to support her all of Bells' life. She has an early acceptance at MIT but her dreams crash when the financial aid forms come back with no money. The father she's never met and who has paid minimal child support in exchange for no contact has done really well for himself. He owns a venture capital company and is a billionaire.

Nari hatches a plan to skim enough money from his company to pay for Bells' college. After he hangs up on her when she steels herself to contact him, Bells okays the plan.

This story mostly tells about their plans and the stresses it puts on all their relationships as the plan and execute the heist. It talks about how the experience helped each of the kids grow and change. While I did get a little tired of the teen-age banter, each character was distinct and their voice clear and convincing. Each chapter is narrated by a different one of the five characters which gives the reader a change to get to know them all.

Fans of heists and bright kids will enjoy this book. It is also a great picture of the lengths people will go to help their friends.

I am so disappointed that I didn't like this one. This sounds right up my alley and definitely fits in with my reading trends over the last few months. I think the plot of the novel is fantastic and unique, however, the execution just didn't do it for me.

The 5 POVs were way too much for me. I also didn't like how jarring it was to go from one to another. Large amounts of time passed between one character's point of view to another's and it was really hard to keep the timeline straight. I also didn't like the voice or attitude of two of our five MCs so that made everything else really difficult. I couldn't tell the difference between the characters' POVs sometimes either, which didn't mesh well with the confusing timeline.

I think the characterization was the major problem for me. Besides what's listed above, I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. I needed to fall in love with each of these characters and sadly I didn't fall in love with any of them. It's really hard to make five distinct voices while also making the reader invested in them.

I think this would've been more successful with fewer POVs. I still loved the plot and idea, I just wish it was executed better.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

Bellamy has worked hard to get into MIT and with her single working mother, she is certain to get enough financial aide to help her go there. However, when the school incorporates the salary of Bellamy’s non-existent father, she no longer qualifies for any aid. Bellamy’s friends won’t stand for it. Nari uses her computer hacking skills to orchestrate the best money-making scheme ever. With the help of their group of friends, Nari is able to skim money off of Bellamy’s father’s company and put it in a secure account for her college. Keagan, Nari’s boyfriend, is starting to have second thoughts, will this group of friends be able to keep it together long enough to complete their plan.

I was not a big fan of the characters. Each character felt over-the-top. I found myself frustrated with the plot.

Immoral Code by Lillian Clark (February 19)
Overview: Five teens- one big heist. A group of friends band together to commit the ultimate in hacking to siphon off enough money to send their friend Bell to college at MIT. Because of her absent father's immense wealth, Bell gets rejected for financial aid at the school of her dreams. Not that her father is agreeing to pay any part of tuition, or even acknowledge her existence. Outraged at this, Nari, coding genius, creates a plan to play Robin Hood and ropes their other friends into risking jail time for Bell's dream. Will they pull off a job that would be ambitious for a team of professional hackers and con men or will they face the steep consequences and ruin five lives? Overall: 4

Characters: 4 There are a lot of characters to take the stage, and they're each uniquely themselves. Bells is a science genius with a bright future despite having to fight against the near poverty her father sunk her and her mother into when he abandoned them when they were still in high school. Bells wants to earn enough money to one day support herself and her mother.
Nari is a coding master. She can manipulate computers like no one else. Her boyfriend Kegan is her perfect counterbalance. Nari is going to take over the world, and Kegan doesn't know where he fits in it yet. All of his friends have their own drive, but he's not even sure if he wants to go to college. I like how that narrative was played out, and it was a good reminder that not everyone has to have life figured out from the jump.
Finally, there's Reese and Santiago. Reese is acearo, even though she's treated like the school slut based on her died hair and out-there clothes. She's learning what her identity means to her while also coping with having discovered her mother's affair. Her family relationship is most explored, and, while it doesn't get too deep, it definitely adds to her character arch.
Santiago is a state champion diver with a full scholarship to Stanford. It sounds like his life is perfect and his parents should be so proud. Instead, they're barely speaking to him because he wants to try his diving talents at the Olympics. While his parents believe why fail at being extraordinary when you can be extraordinary at being ordinary, Santiago is ready to reach for the stars, but he has to prove to himself that his parent's doubt is unfounded first.

Plot: 4 While it is a heist story, the plot to take the money takes a backseat to the stories of friendship. I loved getting to see how they interacted as a group and then how they worked with each other as individuals. Even though they might have gotten off a little easy when their plans hit snags, it's a fun story with some laugh out loud moments.

Writing: 4 I thought that Clark did a nice job balancing an ambitious five POV story. Each of their prospectives were unique, and they helped you get more familiar with each character. I loved how individually motivated they all are and how these motives manage to intersect.

Whew. Reading this book really did transport me back to high school, how fast my mind prattled, how ideas just flowed out of me, how friends seemed to think just as fast and furious, creative and curious. It was a bit tiring as a 44-year-old to suddenly emerge out of my 17-year-old self. I remember all that energy.

Friends Nari, Keagan, Reese, Santiago, and Bellamy are high school friends. They have an all-for-one and one-for-all kind of bond.

Bellamy is admitted to MIT and because it is need-blind, she doesn't have to worry about paying tuition. That's a good thing because Bellamy and her mother have struggled to make ends meet ever since her sperm donor dad refused to acknowledge his part. And then kaboom. MIT submits paperwork to her father for her financial aid.. Well, her "Dad" is loaded and I mean, SO loaded. And so MIT determines she doesn't need financial aid. And although she has never reached out to him, Bellamy finds his number and calls. Her father simply hangs up. And just like that, Bellamy's future disappears.

Nari, an accomplished hacker, dreams up a scheme to get just a tiny fraction of Foster's money diverted to an account Bellamy can access for tuition. But it takes all of them and all of their skills to make it happen. They all know this could land all of them in prison, but they believe in Nari's skills. It's an amazing level of trust.

Is that trust misplaced? Will they be putting each other at risk? Will they end up bargaining for the future that they saw from the beginning pages? Will someone emerge to talk them out of it?

I found the book fun overall, although a few moments I wanted to metaphorically cover my eyes.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Okay, so this is basically a teen Ocean’s Eleven with a extra helping of moral dilemma...

Pros: the characters’ friendships (and their individual developments) are really great and well built, there’s an actual ace character who is more than 2D (!!!!!!), and it was a really fun ride. There’s also an actual discussion of the moral dilemmas surrounding the situation, which I don’t see as often as I would like in YA lit.

Cons: there’s a lot of suspension of disbelief, which I find particularly hard to do, and the ending was far too neatly packaged. Also I felt the characters could have been fleshed out a little better.

Overall, I enjoyed the read and I’ll be buying it for my library!