Skip to main content

Member Reviews

Sadly this book fell short for me. I think it was too young adult for me. I really wish we got more of an introduction to the heist crew. I understand why the book jumped right into the plot, but I think it would’ve been interesting to have a bit of background.

There were a few moments that made me laugh or moments where the sass/shade was so good I audibly said “oooooo” haha. I wish there was more of Tom because he was my favourite character.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance in the book. Jackson seemed like a combination of every cliche in a romance book lol.

There were a few plot twists throughout the book and I didn’t guess the main plot twist at the end. However, I felt like one part of the ending happened too fast and was a little anticlimactic.

Overall, I think I would’ve liked this book better if I was in junior high, so I would definitely recommend it to people aged 10-14!

Was this review helpful?

As a devoted fan of the duo (not only writing partners but also a real-life couple), I’m delighted to see them return to the young adult genre and create a fast-paced, highly entertaining high school crew version of an Ocean's 11 heist adventure, complete with vivid, varied supporting characters and a second chance love story.

I acknowledge that there are many silly moments in this book, and some of the twists are foreseeable from the beginning. There are also times when Olivia and Jackson’s sweet love story slows down the action scenes, and incidents in the book are hurled at us too quickly before we can fully absorb them, leading us into another action-packed sequence. Despite these faults, I still loved this book: it’s easy to read, with short chapters that keep your curiosity piqued, and the character development is still strong. Olivia is a determined, tough, and smart heroine that you easily root for, and Jackson steals scenes with his sweetness as he does everything in his power to win back his girl. I enjoyed their chemistry and banter, as well as the seamless introduction of characters and direction of the heist, which are told without dragging and without losing the reader's interest.

The main story revolves around Olivia Owens, who is kicked out of her Rhode Island house with her mother when their father decides to start another family with his mistress. This means war! Olivia is determined to get her share of the inheritance, which means she’s not going to steal, but she’s going to take what she deserves from her father’s accounts. To achieve her plan, she gathers her own Ocean’s 11 crew: a group of high school friends (most of whom are male, and I wish there were more female members to create subplots of love interest and conflicts) and a former teacher. But, of course, she didn’t plan on the involvement of her ex-lover, who may have cheated on her and is now trying to win her back, a bunch of European cousins who may ruin her plans, and a vindictive second wife who could turn into a wild card! Olivia has to keep her eyes on the prize to get her deserved share, but there are many additional obstacles to her plan that she needs to face. Can her team finish the job they started? Will justice be served fairly this time around?

Overall, I’m rounding up my rating from 3.5 stars to 4 stars for this very enjoyable, riveting, action-packed young adult romance! I especially recommend it to fans of the author duo!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for providing me with this entertaining read's digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Was this review helpful?

OMG! This book was so good and that cover is *mwah* (chefs kiss) . I loved this book so much and it’s so good! I will definitely be recommending it to all of my friends

Was this review helpful?

I enjoyed the events that unfolded during main character Olivia’s plans. I didn’t see the twist coming and will recommend this for my students.

Was this review helpful?

wowwww, that was such a refreshing book, I literally could not put it down. The heist, the stakes- the plot twists! THE PLOT TWISTS JUST KEPT COMING. While it did feel like it was dragging out a bit, I kind of liked that for once and I stayed because of that. The story was always coming together in pieces. I finished this in one day, and what an enjoyable day it has been.

*Did have a couple grammar/structural mistakes

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc!

Was this review helpful?

This one was a fun read, especially since I've been looking for more heist books recently. I thought the premise was great, since I also love wedding heists!
Olivia wasn't my favourite, but I did like some of the other characters and their motivations, such as Tom and Kevin, who were more entertaining. Moving on, I thought the romance was unnecessary. I know Jackson was supposed to come off as super in love with Olivia, but his character made a bad first impression on me with how pushy(?) he felt. I think I liked the dramatic scenes between Olivia and Tom more...
Anyway, some plot points + the pacing did feel a little messy, but I didn't mind it as a light read to pass time. It's definitely not very realistic, so just keep that in mind. I just found it fun, and I wouldn't mind a sequel (maybe hinted at the end?) with the crew.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This book was so much fun. I feel like it could be a movie plus I love a little revenge and of course I love weddings so it all came together for me in the perfect book. I will say there were a lot of twists and turns almost to the point where it was a bit too much but still awesome either way

Was this review helpful?

Olivia wants revenge. After a childhood of opulence she’s been rejected by her father, emotionally and financially, after his divorce from her mom. And Olivia is going to make him pay.

Pros:
+ The premise of this book is so good. I love a heist and the idea of a high schooler putting together a high school crew is delightful.
+ Olivia’s motive is believable. It also gets plenty of good development and grows layers as the story progresses.
+ Characterization is on point. Olivia’s arc is solid, and the supporting cast really shines.
+ Excellent twists, paying homage to the genre and fully realistic in the context of a high schooler trying to pull off a high stakes heist.
+ Female protagonist huzzah!

Cons:
+ Pacing was rough. Heist stories necessarily have downtime between spurts of action but this one took a *long* time to get going. It also had long chunks of filler which felt laborious rather than like natural breaks in the suspense.
+ The relationship subplot was clunky. It felt less like a fully developed subplot and more like a way to fill in the gaps between heist phases.
+ Although the main character was female, all other significant supporting characters were male. Most narration about other females in the book was about cruel cousins or terrible stepmoms. It wasn’t overtly toxic but it did end up being noticeable that Olivia had multiple positive male characters around her and not a single positive female character.

I’ll recommend this book to YA readers who like a heist; it does that part of the story well enough to warrant a recommendation. I’ll also be checking out the authors’ other work - this story made me curious about other stuff they’ve written.

Was this review helpful?

What a fun story this was! It took a bit for me to get into it, but once I did, it kept me completely enthralled. Loved the whole cast of characters and given the ending, would definitely love to read a sequel. I will say the "twist" toward the end was a little cheesy/predictable, but overall this was enjoyable. I perhaps like this more than the romances the authors write.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Olivia Owens is 17 and whip smart. She has crafted a perfect plan to avenge her father's act of jettisoning her and her mother out of his billionare life. She has a team that rivals Ocean 11 and will be setting them free during his newest nuptials. There's a few problems that she didn't count on, including her ex chasing her down and the fact that she isn't the only one at the wedding looking for revenge!

This writing team is amazing! I wouldn't mind hearing their rom com story via book as well. I hope Olivia finds more adventure, I would surely follow along. If you loved the Bank Heist or just love a little romance with your theft, this is a novel for you!
#littlebrownbooks #little&brown #heiresstakesall #emilywibberley #austinsiegemundbroka

Was this review helpful?

Heiress Takes All is a fun romp as a group of teens (and a teacher) come together to pull off a heist during a wedding. Olivia Owens is out for revenge. After her father divorces their mother and cuts them off financially, Olivia needs a plan. When her father is getting remarried (again), she and an eclectic group plot to help to get what is rightfully hers (and a nice payday for everyone).

Was this review helpful?

3.5/5 stars

Okay, so I haven't read anything by either of these authors, but after reading other people's reviews, this is not their normal genre so I can't comment to how I feel about the author's writing outside of this novel. I will however be interested to read other books that they wrote separately.

If you include the word heist in your blurb, it's an instant read for me, especially in a YA book. I loved the cast of. high school students who are a part of this heist. It might have something to do with my childhood dream of being a spy. I really enjoyed our main character Olivia, though I did not love the way she treated some people. Her plot for revenge was definitely interesting and kept the plot moving. I did find there to be enough character development for me to enjoy the book overall, but I do think some of the side characters needed a bit more fleshing out.

Based on the end, it does seem like there will be a sequel (which I am definitely hoping for) and I hope we get more info about some of the side characters.

Thank you netgalley and the authors for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Was this review helpful?

YA thriller with an Ocean 11 plot and rich people vibes. Cute, fun, but a bit messy. I loved the found family, the heist was fun and the setting was great. Towards the middle the authors tried to do too much and the plot points got mixed up and confusing. Character wise, I do like the growth throughout the book, but the main character Olivia was rather unlikeable for most of it. I like the revenge vibes, but I just did not like her and how she treated others.
Overall, this is a fun YA book to pass the time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the advanced readers copy!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book in exchange for a honest review. I absolutely loved this heist book. The characters were fun and well developed. The plot certainly kept me in my toes as well. There was also some good humor sprinkled throughout as well. I'm definitely hoping there will be a sequel...seems like there will be. I will be sure to read more by this author in the future!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to reading this book in advance of its release.
-
To start off being completely transparent, I DNF'd this book at 39%. I do not have the tendency to not finish books so this was a challenging decision. . I quite enjoyed the titles this book is being compared to so I was really looking forward to this one as a fan of those and these authors' previous works, including their other YA titles. Unfortunately, this book just missed the mark for me. From the beginning, I felt the story dragged a bit. I had a hard time feeling really engaged in the story. A lot of the themes feel very predictable and the turns taken in the parts I did read didn't really make me nervous or anything in a way I feel I should be in a high stakes heist situation, if that makes sense? It was just like oh...okay. The pacing feels very slow and there's so much internal monologue the exciting parts of the story get drowned out in the internal turmoil of the main character. Not for me.

Was this review helpful?

This book was tough for me to rate, because I have mixed feelings about it. I was particularly excited for this book, but it fell just a little short for me.

I liked more about this book than I disliked. I appreciated Olivia’s struggle with wanting love and acceptance from both of her parents, and her guilt over her parents’ divorce. Her anger and her resentment of her father battled with just wanting his love, and I think this is a relatable feeling for a lot of young people, and it helped me really understand and empathize with her character.

I also enjoyed the humor in this book. It was definitely young people humor but I can still enjoy that in my old age! I laughed out loud more than once while reading this.

The twist was also totally unpredictable for me. Although it was an overdone trope, in my opinion, I thought it worked well in this context and I didn’t see it coming.

The thing I struggled with the most in this book, and struggled A LOT, was the pacing. I felt like it was so slow at times, and that I was dragging myself through it. Not a whole lot of anxiety or suspense was built up during this story. I was expecting an edge-of-your-seat, thrilling heist story and it was just too slow. I think what might have helped with pacing is cutting out some of the redundant reiterations of ideas that became repetitive fluff.

Overall, I liked this story. I think a lot of people would enjoy it. It just was not quite there for me.

I am so appreciative to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for Readers for the opportunity to read this advance copy!

Was this review helpful?

This was a good YA book, that has a few elements of humor. The rag-tag team preparing for the heist was an eclectic mix, and I liked being able to learn a little about each of them, even if it was through the lens of our MC. I appreciated that I didn't see every single twist, but definitely called out the majority of them.

Primarily, I struggled with the pacing; several story points just felt so belabored and the story dragged on and on. It felt like the wedding scenes lasted 15-20 minutes and not the length of a song. That added with some reallllllly tough to swallow events just made it seem a bit too far fetched for my personal liking.

That said, I do think it'll draw in readers of a younger age who will be able to enjoy the story at more of a surface level than I did as an adult who just repeated shook their head.

Overall: 3 stars (I liked it)

I'll tell my students about: language, LGBT+, sex (mentioned), mental/emotional abuse, trauma, cyber stalking,

**Thank you to NetGalley & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall I really enjoyed this. It had a little bit of everything. Revenge, a heist, love story, familiar twists, and imperfect protagonists.

The book definitely dragged in places as the pacing wasn’t spot on. Usually I fly through books but this took a few days as while I enjoyed it, I didn’t get the sense of urgency to keep reading or return as soon as possible.

The main character Olivia, a cast out heiress isn’t overly likable but she is identifiable underneath everything. The love story between her and Jackson was a bit frustrating as they are broken up and the events between them just don’t ring as authentic and some just plain ridiculously outlandish as it doesn’t mimic reality. But it’s a minor part of the book so you can get past it.

Overall i recommend grabbing it when it gets published if you like the themes listed.


My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Was this review helpful?

"I guess what I'm saying is....hold your grudge. Get your vengeance. Wonderful, as long as it's not...against yourself."

This was a really fun read. I picked it up based on the comparison to the Inheritance Games, and while I don't know that it completely reaches that level, anyone who loved those books is going to enjoy this one too.

Seventeen year old Olivia Owens needs money. Cast out of her extremely rich father's house after her parents' divorce, she's gone from private schools and designer couture to public school and a minimum wage job. Desperate both to help her mom pay off mountains of medical debt and to get revenge on her slimy, cheating dad, Olivia carefully cultivates a group of individuals from her new life and plots to steal millions during her father's upcoming wedding to bride #3. But she's not the only one headed to the wedding with an agenda, and it's going to take everything she has to make it out unscathed.

Was this book particularly realistic? Definitely not. Was it still a good time even with all the ridiculousness? Absolutely. The plot for this one is one twist after the other - some of which I called, many of which I didn't - so it's a quick read (I finished in about a day and a half). The heist team had some pretty lovable characters, so it wasn't hard to root for them. Olivia reminded me of Veronica Mars a little bit - smart, sarcastic, underestimated due to her appearance, and all-in when it comes to getting even with those who have wronged her. I had Vector from Despicable Me in my head for Kevin at the beginning (and still a little at the end too) but he grows on you. I've never read anything by this author team before, but after this I'll need to give their other books a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC! While I didn’t love this book, there were things I did like find appealing for my students to want to read it, First, the characters-I was rather irritated with Olivia. If she lived with her father for all those years, I just don’t see how he and the people around him wouldn’t know that she wasn’t ditzy and wouldn’t know what she was really like. I also didn’t find her heist very realistic. To be honest, my favorite character was Kevin, the annoying rich boy son of her dad’s accountant. Her assembled group also didn’t seem realistic but were likable anyways. The heist, though not realistic, was fun, as it had some twists and things that went wrong that required quick thinking on the part of her crew. There were several twists, especially near the end that I think readers will enjoy. I wish it didn’t talk about sex with her ex so casually; I just don’t think that was needed for the story. I do think the language was pretty clean from what I recall. In the end, I cannot give it full stars as there were many times I was skimming to get to the good stuff, but I do feel like it will appeal to some teen readers and will keep their attention.

Was this review helpful?