Breakdown of a Heroine - Katarina Bishop Heist Society

Who is Kat?

Kat's someone who trying to be someone different than who she is. Not in a weak, pushover, trying to gain popularity type of way. Let me rephrase that. Kat is trying to be better than who she is. Katarina Bishop comes from a world-renown family of art thieves. She's strong-willed, smart and her life sounds pretty glamorous. But Kat's not sure it's the life for her. She cons her way into Colgan boarding school because she wants everything the criminal life can't give her. She wants a place to call home and stability. Thievery is a high-pressure, stressful job and Kat wants out.

Strength of Character

Kat's not the "badass" type of criminal. She's subtle and intelligent. Even though she has a lot of help from her friends, they don't try to push her around. Throughout the book she's the one leading and planning their heist.. She's strong and has a pretty strong moral compass for an art thief. I liked seeing the criminal as the good guy in this book.

Kat's Storyline

Kat's hiding out at boarding school, avoiding her life as a thief when her best friend, the dashing Hale shows up and gets her kick out of school. But not without a good reason. Someone has stolen a priceless collection of artwork and Kat's father is the only suspect. In order to save her father she needs to return to her life of crime. With a makeshift crew of family and friends, Kat's on a deadline to re-steal the paintings before the owner gets his hands on her father.

Romantic Entanglements

There's some flirty-flirtiness in the book with a dash of jealousy but it doesn't really go beyond handholding. Hale, her wealthily, handsome, best friend, is clearly a romantic interest but not much happens during Heist Society. Mainly because Kat's too distracted by silly things like trying to save her father's life. Can't believe she'd put her love life on hold for that! Briefly they tried to amp up the jealousy, but I just feel "eh" towards that whole plot thread.

Conclusions

This is book is fun, with a little bit of froth, but also a lot of heart. There's a family, non-traditional, criminal, but still a family at it's core. Kat's friends are there for her even though she'd abandoned them. At the end of her day her friends are also part of her family. There are some flaws. For example the whole Nick thing I just didn't understand and it seemed unnecessary romantic tension. But Kat's got a level head, intelligence, the willingness to do anything for her father AND an appreciation for art. In my book that's good enough to be a heroine. This is a worthwhile book and I definitely want to read the next in the series.