Did not finish book. Stopped at 34%.

- It feels like it’s doing too much in terms of quippy little sayings and metaphors.
- It just makes me feel disconnected from the plot and like I’m constantly reading a bunch of filler.
- This book suggests that the only people with magic are criminals? Aren’t there just normal people with other jobs who have magical abilities?
- And also… why magic? The magic feels out of place and unexplainable tbh.
- Saying most people who were born with magic were poor and that’s why they’re more likely to be criminals… I’m sorry what? Ew.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

This is a heist novel with a bit of magic in it. I want to distinguish this, because if you are hoping for a fantasy novel with a heist in it, you will be disappointed. This is not a book that intends to go deep into its magic theory, spending pages upon pages on how the magic works, who gets it and why, how they develop it, how they apply it, any of that. No. This is a book that looked at heist movies and said, I want a one of those. But with some magic.

Want that? You've got it. It's got the bit where you find out the job, the bit where you get the team together, the bit where it's all a little wobbly. It's got a cute dog, a love triangle, a fancy gala, a really sketchy customer, and a terribly fraught emotional backstory to complicate the whole thing. It's got the supply run and picking out the dress for the gala and the point where you think it can't work but it has and the point where you're sure it has worked and it hasn't. It has all the things you want in a heist. Also the cute dog is not harmed in the making of this book.

But notice that those things were not the magic training sequence, the wise wizard mentor, the cool spell, or any of the other genre furniture for fantasy. Okay? Because this is a heist book, with some fantasy elements. Dani Poissant and her border collie Sunflower are absolutely here for your art theft needs. (I really, really like Sunflower.)

Ten years ago Dani Poissant turned her art thief mother into the FBI. Now she's been forced by her mother's old partner to fulfill the job her mother had been working towards before she was jailed. To do that she needs to assemble her mum's old crew who shunned her, including her best friend Mia and boyfriend Elliott.

This book has such a great premise, a team of magical art thieves trying to pull off a heist in what is a very secure facility, all while dealing with the FBI, rival thieves? Not to mention the extremely creepy painting that everyone seems to want.

While I enjoyed this book immensely I found the pace a bit slow, and some parts not fully developed, such as the magic realism and the romantic triangle. The magic stuff just felt too subtle and could've been explored much further. I felt we were told more than saw any romantic chemistry between Dani and her two potential suitors and found the one she picks to have even less chemistry with than the other guy. On page they barely saw each other to really make me believe after ten years they'd be compatible again.

Overall this was a fun and enjoyable read. If you like magic realism, a good old-fashioned heist and a dog named Sunflower, this is one to add to the TBR pile.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! The pacing was slower than I expected, but I enjoyed the writing and the characters enough to keep me reading. It's a second chance romance, which is my absolute favorite, so having that woven in kept my attention and kept the plot moving. I thought this was really fun and unique!

The Frame-Up introduces a world of magical realism with high stakes heists and intriguing characters.

I truly wanted to love The Frame-Up, but found it to be quite boring. It's premise is so promising and exciting, yet I could not seem to care about any of these characters or their situation. Yes, there are high stakes and a time crunch so, theoretically, it should be engaging; however, it was not at all exciting with relatively no action (which I don't need a book to have in order for it to be thrilling or compelling) and minor twists and turns that didn't have great payoff.

The magical realism should have been intriguing, and it was for a brief minute, but it was so scattered and unfocused that it fell to the wayside and felt much like an afterthought. There are cool powers and cool characters and cool circumstances, but it doesn't go much farther than that: cool.

Maybe it was the pacing, perhaps it was the characters, or something else entirely; but I found The Frame-Up disappointing, unsatisfactory and boring. It was well written and there were many things I did enjoy, but overall I was left wanting. With that said, I am looking forward to exploring more of Gwenda Bond's works.

A huge thank you to Gwenda Bond, Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I love a good heist book or movie, so why wouldn't I like this book? It bored me. Took me repeated attempts to get past the first few chapters, hoping the story would improve, but it didn't. I didn't like the MC and therefore was not invested in her story. Too much Sunflower, the dog, which is probably an unpopular opinion. The pacing of the story was not good. The magical realism did not fit the story. The "romance" was weird as there was zero chemistry between the two characters, and we're just supposed to accept the fact that they were fated to be together.

Would not recommend.

A con artist with a bit of magic has to do one more job... with the mother's old crew that outcasted her, which also means working with the guy who broke her heart. Dani Poissant is the daughter and former accomplice of the world's most famous art thief, Maria. Dani was close with her mom's crew... until Dani turned her mom over to the FBI. Ten years has passed with her mom still in prison and Dani being outcasted and exiled from contacting her mom's crew. Yet a mysterious man hires Dani for a job and offers her the chance to reunite with her mom and the crew again. Dani's got an impossible job ahead of her, and I'm not talking about the heists, but rather the dark family secrets her mom has been hiding and the old wounds...especially facing her former best friend and the love of her life who left her when she turned her mom in. Dealing with these old feelings is difficult enough but having to work on an important art heists will only complicate it. This book... was unfortunately really really boring. For a book with magic, heists, and second chance romance, I thought it would be perfect for e yet the story itself was so boring and the characters gave me absolutely nothing. I wasn't rooting for the romance, I wasn't really rooting for anyone. I found myself spacing out while reading it and wanting to DNF it so many times but just forced myself to make it to the end. The characters don't really feel like they have any depth, there is absolutely no chemistry between Dani and her former best friend. I just didn't care at all what happened by the end, and that is so unfortunate because i had high hopes for this book with it's cute premise. If you enjoy second chance romances with heists, give this a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book had everything you could want; magic, romance, and a heist! Unfortunately, the magic fell flat, the romance was stiff, and overall it was pretty boring at times. Each time I went to read this book I would read a few pages, put it down, and then have no desire to come back to it. I really really wanted to like it more than I did.
-2.5 stars-

Thank you to Negalley, Random House, and Gwenda for the eARC!

I recently read The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond and it was a thrilling and magical read. The story follows Dani Poissant, the daughter of the world's most famous art thief who turned her mother over to the FBI ten years prior. When Dani is approached for a job that only her mother and her crew could pull off, she finds herself reunited with her mother's old gang, including both the love of her life and her former best friend. But the job is an impossible task that needs a year to plan, and Dani only has a little over a week to pull it off.

Bond does a great job of creating a vivid and magical world full of unique characters and intricate plot twists. Dani is a complex and relatable protagonist, and her relationships with the other characters add depth and emotion to the story. The heist itself is full of suspense and surprises, and the stakes are high, making for an engaging and exciting read.

I particularly enjoyed the way Bond seamlessly blends magic with the real world, creating a unique and fascinating universe that draws you in from the very beginning. The story also touches on themes of family, loyalty, and reconciliation, adding depth and heart to the plot.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Frame-Up to anyone looking for a fun and magical read. It's the perfect book to escape into and get lost in the world of art thieves and magic.

Another adorable and cute romance! I highly recommend this one for a Valentine's Day romance! 5 stars from me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance reader's copy of the book. I want to preference this review by saying I love heist books. When I started reading this book, I was excited since it was a heist book. This isn't one of my favorites. The concept of the certain people having subtle magics to be used for various things was quite interesting and I liked that. The heist itself was fun. However, I didn't quite care for the main character. Her power was interesting and quite useful, but something about her just didn't sit well with me. Probably just me though. It's a well written story, and the world building of the magic is interesting.

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I was pulled in by this super cute cover, but unfortunately the story was confusing and boring. I think the author should have stuck with either a heist book or a magic book, because while in theory this was great idea, it really missed the mark. If you’re going to write about magic you need to explain your magic system somehow and even at the end I couldn’t figure out how some people had magic or how it works. There is also just a lack of anticipation leading up to the heist that makes it hard to want to continue reading. I also could have completely done without the little bit of romance as it added nothing for me. I think the only think I particularly enjoyed about the book was Sunshine the dog.

Would not recommend.

the premise is SO unique and the cover is so eye catching. But unfortunately The Frame Up was not that interesting. It was kind of boring and I just had a hard time with it.

📖 ARC REVIEW 📖

Thank you @delreybooks for an early copy of The Frame-Up by Gwena Bond. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 🤍

Rating: ⭐/5
Release date: February 13th, 2024

Blurb: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/163529275-the-frame-up?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ZxU0EX8nXc&rank=2

🛑Read on with caution; review may contain spoilers🛑

The Frame-Up has such a promising and interesting premise, but an overall bland heist. Was this a draft of the book? There were lots of side stories and yet not much context was given, especially with the magic involved; they just got me all confused overall and I was bored for most of the book. And for a book that involves a heist and some fantasy where you would expect suspense and anticipation, I felt none of that here.

I enjoyed this book for the cheesy over-the-top narrating that I would expect from a detective show. Then it just made me a bit tired and not interested at all in the story. The premise is fun though!

This was a departure for me from my mystery/thriller/romance train that I’m on. I don’t typically enjoy the supernatural, but this one was different. It dabbled in the mystical, but kept at least one foot firmly planted in reality throughout. And still had a mystery/thriller vibe. I really liked the supporting characters in this one. Elliot, with his dreamy quiet feelings he held for Dani. And Mia, the best friend that never really stayed mad at Dani. But my favorite was Sunflower. Dani’s trusty dog, who was never, ever wrong. To be honest, the only character I wasn’t crazy about was Dani herself, the fmc. I felt her character should have been stronger earlier, to hold up to the supporting cast. 4⭐️

I loved this book, especially the main character, Dani. I was engaged from the first chapter to the last. Great characters, a well paced plot, and a compelling premise. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Publishing for an advanced reader copy.

This story had so much potential but definitely fell short.

The whole concept of the art heist and the back story of Dani and her mom Maria was great and really drew me in but as soon as thee talk of magic and abilities came into it I was thrown off. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy books like that but they had no place in this story, it could have been told with Archer just being a collector who wanted the piece of artwork of a past relative or something

Also I have no idea how Dani and Elliott ended up together, they had zero chemistry right. She could have ended up with Brad and it would have made more sense.

I love magic and I love a heist so I thought this would be the book for me but it just didn’t hit the mark fully. I didn’t feel the magic system was fully developed. The love interest portion of the plot never really got me. I hope others like this book though!

I had such high hopes for this book. It sounded absolutely amazing. You have the disgraced daughter of an art thief who gets together her mom's former magical team to pull off one last great heist.

However, the thing that really bugged me about this is that the magical aspect of this book was only seemingly half done. You get little spatterings of mention that this person has the ability to do this, but then it's never really expanded upon. And it almost felt like the magic aspect was unnecessary since it wasn't really used to its full potential.

And then there was the romance. No don't get me wrong. I am all for a "meant to be" romance and I do enjoy them. However, this romance didn't really have much chemistry between the two characters, so you're not really rooting for them. They felt more like friends than anything else.

I did really enjoy the writing and there was definite potential in the story. So I will probably pick up other things by this author at some point. I just might wait a while because I was a little disappointed in this one.

Thank you to NatGalley and Random House for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.