The premise sounds awesome but the execution failed for me. I felt tossed into this world that was a bit more sci-fi than I normally read and there wasn't a large amount of world building to help me along. Reading along I picked up what I could use to understand the rest but it felt like self studying without an outline to guide me. The concept about thieves being hired by the rich as entertainment is a fun one though. It also took about half the story for the premise in the summary to take the stage. I do feel that this would still be enjoyable for many though even if it didn't hit right for myself.

A novel take on a thieves' story. A future world where the wealthy hire thieves to attend parties and rob the guests/venue as entertainment.

Enjoyed the premise and mostly enjoyed the complications and twists as they unveiled.

The concept was very intriguing where thieves and heists are a form of entertainment. I really liked the use of mixed media in this; it contributed effectively to the entertainment aspect of the plot. Although I found some parts dragging and couldn't immerse myself quite well into the story, I think it's quite a charming idea and if you want to read a unique setup of dystopian and heists and gives you that high society drama, this is the book for you.

The premise of this book is highly imaginative and well constructed. Thieves as entertainment, planned and sanctioned robbery. This sounded brilliant and fun. I enjoyed reading about a group of thieves as they plotted heists against the upper class.

However I found much of the book dry and long winded. I really struggled to get through it. For me the book didn't start picking up until 70%.

On a more positive note, the world building is solid and woven into the story in interesting ways. I enjoyed getting additional information from news feeds and social media posts. They made a good break between chapters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fran Wilde is a master worldbuilder, and New Washington will live in your mind long after you put down A Philosophy of Thieves. It gives Gilded Era meets post apocalypse. But like the world of today, access to education and opportunity is stratified by class. The generationally wealthy validate status through the collection and trade of validated pre-apocalyptic artifacts, while the rest of the world fights for access to filtered and fabricated nutrition.

Enter the Canarviers, a family of performance artists who provide an upmarket form of entertainment en vogue among the wealthy: party heists. When the Canarviers are hired to rob the estate of an up-and-coming inventor (sneer: new rich) during the birthday party he’s hosting for his fashionable (celebrity, old money) girlfriend, secrets will be exposed. Family ties will be fractured, while other relationships are repaired, leaving no one same. Amazing outfits (think haute-couture-meets-Transformers) will be worn along the way.

While this is in large disagreement with the other reviews here and on Goodreads, I had to DNF. I was 20% into the book and just didn’t care about the characters and I was so lost with the roster of characters. It’s a tough hook to throw you in the world right from the get but then solidify your interest for the story. With this one I just couldn’t get into it. The writing was a little clunky for me and the cast of characters was too many introduced too fast I found myself not caring for some characters but also forgetting who is who. The description really hooked me with this but I just couldn’t get into it.

Buckle up - this is a RIDE. Books where authors drop you into a crazy world with little explanation may be my favorite genre...sub-genre? Whatever, I love it. A Philosophy of Thieves does this so so so well. We're in a bleak future where the air is poor and so are a majority of the people. The haves have and the have-nots see what they're missing via streams. (It was a nice reminder to put the phone down every now and then.) One element of entertainment is hiring thieves to rob your party. If you catch the thief before the time is up, you win, if you don't the thieves get to sell your belongings back to you, making a profit. The Canarvier family are "performers", ie some of the best thieves in the business. But things start to go wrong for them. First the head of the family, King, is arrested, then while the family tries to save him from being shipped off to Alaska, their heist starts to go wrong in all sorts of ways.

The first 40% of the book is set up. It's needed, and it's appreciated, but it is a bit slow and the chapters are long. The last 60% though, that is where I found it incredibly hard to put this book down. Who's on the Canarvier's side, who's thieving the thieves, what will family do for one another? It's a fantastic futuristic family story and I'm already craving book 2!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of A Philosophy of Thieves! The story surrounds a family of thieves for hire in a post-modern society built on the rubble of our own. The book promised itself to be similar to Leverage. I absolutely adore Leverage, but if that is the vibes you are looking for...then this isn't quite for you. The book revolves around Roo and her siblings who take on one Grand Heist job in order to raise enough credits to free their father, King. The leader of the troupe. In this setting, the obscenely wealthy hire thieves as a bit of a sport. The pacing of the novel was a bit slow and the writing was a bit dry at times. Overall, the plot was incredibly interesting. The concept of thieves for entertainment is not one I have seen or heard of before. Overall, it was an entertaining novel with a satisfactory conclusion. Unlike most book ones of a series, this tells a wholly satisfying tale!