RATING: 3/5 STARS

The pace of this book wasn't fast enough to grab me. I think it was too similar to other YA historical romances I've read before.

The cover was great but couldn’t get into the story. I do think others might connect to this one more. Three stars.

This one was a quick read! I flew through this one in almost one sitting.

I really enjoyed the characters and the storyline.

I recommend this to any YA fan!

Thank you to PenguinTeen for the e-arc, an exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the the story is very interesting. But it's a slow paced book for my liking but interesting nonetheless. Adding that I got a little confused while reading. I didn't know if it was the past or current time in certain chapters. I really wish I would of connected more with the characters, overall it was an okay read.

This book was so hard to put down! I am not usually one to read historical fiction, but this one surprised me and I loved it. The descriptions and world building were a little bit vague but the story was intriguing. We have several situations that correlate with things seem in our world throughout the centuries, such as anti-semitic, sexual harassment, and some addiction. I enjoyed the plot as well as the development of the characters. Although I would have liked a little bit more description, I feel like the overall story was super interesting. The trials and errors the main character goes through kept me hooked! The wrap up of the book was strong! Would love to see more!

The Jewel Thief was an absolutely wonderful book. It was a great blend of historical fiction and female heroine story. I can't wait to read more from this author. She really does her research and makes history come alive!

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for sending me an E-ARC for an honest review.

I am giving this book two stars because I unfortunately did not like it. I decided to DNF (Did Not Finish) the book about halfway through. I was not invested in the characters or the story at all, and I personally did not like the writing. I gave it two stars because the idea was cool, but all-in-all it was not enough to keep me interested.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

This was a pretty decent read. If you love historical fiction with romance, you will enjoy this book. I wouldn't say there was a ton of world-building, but I did appreciate the details the author provided on gem-cutting techniques and the way jewels were described was really descriptive.

DNF 57%. An interesting idea but I think the author overshot the idea of using a verbal confession as the literary device to tell this story. I couldn’t tell when the lead was speaking or possibly inner monologuing (?) but it was weirdly detailed for a supposed verbal account.

Additionally, it was dull and I felt no connection to the characters. I pushed myself onward but when I got to Rene wanting to spin the confession and place blame on the “Jews”, regardless of historical accuracy, I realized that I didn’t give a single damn about any of it. So I bounced.

The Jewel Thief
by Jeannie Mobley

This historical fiction read was amazing and I loved the royalty and heist component of the story. I found the writing easy and fun with great pacing. I enjoyed the characters in the story and thought that the book had everything I needed - the amazing historical fiction aspect, some mystery that was cleverly written, a bit of Romance that I loved and of course that suspenseful thrill throughout. This is a great introduction to readers being introduced to historical fiction. This truly was a captivating story and I don't really read much HF from the 17th century and of course loved this one. The research was spot on and the story is really captivating and fun to read. I recommend this one.

The Jewel Thief is set in late-17th century France and revolves around the story of the cursed Hope Diamond. It follows a teenage girl named Juliette Pitau, the daughter of a gem cutter who has been accused of stealing the Diamond and faces execution if convicted. In the book, Juliette is recalling the events of the previous two years to the boy she loves, Rene, who is acting as a scribe to write her confession. It’s certainly a unique format for a story, and I can see how it could be confusing for some people, but I was so enamored with this story from the beginning. I loved seeing Juliette’s retrospective reactions to her actions, and Rene’s to discovering her side of the story. As Juliette confesses everything to Rene, they fall in love all over again, and their love story is both wonderful and heart-wrenching. It’s a slow burn, so it takes a while for anything major to really happen between them, but I still found myself analyzing their every interaction searching for a spark (as any good slow burn romance will make you do).

The Jewel Thief is Jeannie Mobley’s debut novel, but it’s so beautifully written–it was so lush and dreamy! It’s a multilayered story about love and loss with artfully flawed characters, and I could not put it down. I was riveted both by Juliette’s ardent effort to prove that her motives for stealing the Hope Diamond were only good intentioned and by her and Rene’s love story. This book also tackles various topics such as abuse of power, grief and depression, and Mobley is able to do so in a tasteful, genuine way. Honestly, there isn’t much more that I can say about this book other than that I loved it. Don’t let the fact that it’s YA deter you: there isn’t any teen melodrama and the lush setting and romance will appeal to readers of all ages. Just read this book, you won’t regret it.

Thank you so much Penguin Teen for the eARC of the Jewel Thief! This was such an enjoyable and interesting book. I loved the unique framing of the story, starting right in the middle of the action, recounting the tale whole she’s in prison! The historical aspect was so well researched, and the romance really intrigued me. My only issues were that it was a little bit slow, and didn’t fully capture my attention the whole time, but it was definitely a very enjoyable read!

"But you have confessed to conspiracy and theft against the crown, and that remains punishble by death."
I am giving the Jewel thief a 3 out of 5 star rating. It's hard to know where to start. As I progressed through Juliet's story I began to enjoy the story more. At about 50% I had so much hate for Juliet that I must confess I almost DNF'd and that is one thing I do not EVER do.


Juliet Pitau is a 16 year old girl living in the heart of France during the reign of King Louis XIV. She is the daughter of the crown's most infamous jeweler and loved by many. Tragedy strikes young Juliet's family when her father is away. she takes matters into her own hand while her father is away. Upon return Monisseur Pitau discovers great loss upon his return and drinks himself into a stupor. Juliet steps up during these drunken stupors to revive her family name all for the sake of love.


I've been going back and forth with the rating I wanted to give them. I feel like the love story redeemed some of the books lesser qualities. I really felt like Juliet cared a great deal for her father but at the same time became blinded by her love for him and love for Rene' the love interest in this book. It was hard for me to like her character given the fact that her father basically gave up on her and drank every night. Yet time and time again she went to bats for him. Also, dare I say not always in the best nor smartest of manners.


Her blindness cost a lot of problems in this book. She ruined peoples lives but at the same time sort or redeemed herself. She was 16 in the book so maybe it's befitting. I still say she needed to gain a better backbone.
Things were left unresolved in this book. I'm assuming that this is a standalone but I would have liked to know what happens to the Jewish families in this book. They played a huge role yet in the end were torn from their home because of a girls rash decision.


" I ruined the very people I was trying to save. This time, though I would not make things worse by trying to make amends. This time, I would take the blame, and the punishment.
I did enjoy the way the author told the tale itself. It is written as a plea from the Bastille. That was quite unique. In the end I just could not stand behind Juliet and her choices. she made others suffer in the name of love. Some of the plot points did not quite come together.
I am very glad I continued to read till the very end. The last chapter was very well written.


Just a quick heads up there are some graphic scenes as far as sexual content goes. I would call this more of an adult fiction rather than a YA.

I loved this book so much! The writing style, the history, and the high stakes drama all made for a really engaging read. I love that the book is told through a frame narrative. Our main character in jail recounting her tale of events to the royal scribe who happens to be her ex-lover and despises her now. This record is going to be presented to the King as her last appeal. This story was gripping! I love that we start off right in the middle of the drama, and things just continue to escalate.

I personally love historical fiction set during the King Louis XIV’s time. I am familiar enough with the time period this is set in so I enjoyed it a lot. However I did feel like there was a lack of world building. I wanted more descriptions of the political climate, fashions, food, interiors, etc.

One thing that May greatly affect reader’s thoughts on this book is going to be the main character. She makes a lot of mistakes. A lot. Most of which endanger the lives of a generous and loving Jewish family. However, you also feel for her and can sense her desperation throughout the book. Also she is quite young with her age at 16 when the drama begins. I personally liked her.

Content Warnings: sexual harassment (physical and verbal, no graphic details), anti-Semitic comments (it was reflection of the times as it was literally illegal for Jewish people to live there, it’s shown in a negative light but it could have been addressed better), alcoholic parent, one sex scene.

I just knew this one would be a book I would love and it did not disappoint!
Thank you NetGalley for this advanced e-arc! I really enjoyed the characters in this book and need more!

The Jewel Thief is a historical romance mixed with plot lines of heists and royalty, all things I absolutely love in a book. I had high expectations coming into the book and I'm happy to say that this novel lived up to them!
The perspective jumps from current events when the main character, Juliette, is imprisoned in a cell, to past events leading up to how she got there. The beginning took a lot of focus for me to figure out what was going on, but things became more clear as the book progressed.
The end of the book was thrilling and captivating and that was definitely a high point for me. I also loved that the events are set in one of my favorite cities, Paris! It was interesting to head an alternate history of the Hope Diamond, as I have seen this beautiful gem in Paris myself.
This is a great book for historical fiction readers who love to get lost in a world from the past.
Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with a copt of this book!

The below review will be posted on https://www.instagram.com/somethingofthebook/ on 6/18/2020.

Rating: 2 Stars

The Jewel Thief is an intriguing historical fiction that sadly did not work for me.

Court intrigue is like catnip to me, but The Jewel Thief did not deliver on that front, which really hindered my interest in the story. I did enjoy the way the story was told, through Juliet's confession while imprisoned deep in the Bastille, but after a while the story felt so drawn out that I started losing interest. Much of the focus is on the cutting, or lack there of, of the future Hope Diamond and there is very little actual court intrigue.

Juliet has many good qualities, but making sound decisions is not one of them. It's hard to judge, because she is young and in a terrible situation, but every time something seemed to be moving forward in the story a poor decision was made and that got old real fast. The romance aspect of the story also really did not click for me.

At the end of the day, I think the author's attention to detail and balance of timelines was what really stood out to me in this story. The rest, sadly did not hold my interest and I ended up not finishing the book at 65%. I always push as hard as I can to read ARCs all the way through, but I just felt myself dragging with this one.

This is such a gripping story and a very quick read. Every time it seems like the situation can't get any worse, it does.
It also appeared to be very well-researched, with a lot of detail about the time period, how Jewish people were treated, and about how diamond cutting works.

The Jewel Thief is an absolute hidden gem. This lush, beautifully written historical fiction novel swept me off my feet. Although the story was a bit slow at times, everything came together beautifully at the end. I loved Mobley’s choice to tell this story as a story within the novel. Given that Juliet is incarcerated for most of the novel, her telling the story to René felt more intimate than it would have otherwise. Although some of the ending is revealed at the beginning of the novel, I always needed to know what happened next. Plus I was absolutely rooting for the romance.

If you’re looking for an enchanting novel that you can get absolutely lost in, I would absolutely recommend The Jewel Thief. Although I feel like it should come with a disclaimer that you’ll go down a deep internet rabbit hole regarding the royal gems of Europe afterward.

*Disclaimer: I received a digital advance copy of this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

3.5 stars
THE JEWEL THIEF was a really interesting historical fiction novel. The story is told by Juliette, whose father became the Crown Jeweler and is given the assignment of cutting the Hope Diamond, a seemingly impossible task. I loved the way the story is told: Juliette recounts the events leading up to her current predicament, with present-day commentary every chapter, then jumping back into the past. This kept me intrigued in the story and gave an element of suspense, despite the fact that we already knew what her current situation was. We also got a fair bit of political intrigue, what with the king, the guilds, and the stressors of working for a king like Louis XIV, which was interesting. In historical fictions, I always like being immersed in the world. As this story takes place in 17th century France, I was expecting more of an atmospheric read and hoping to be more immersed in the French culture and setting more than I was. The story focused mainly on the heist that occurs rather than the setting, which I was disappointed in. I also thought the side characters weren't completely developed, though the flashback element of the story could have caused this. The entire plot around the Hope Diamond and the cutting of it was completely unique and so interesting to read about, and I loved it! This is a must read for fans of 17th century France and the mysterious past surrounding the Hope Diamond.