Immoral Code by Lillian Clark is a really nice book. I liked the characters and the plot, especially the interesting and unique concept.

Heist books are always in demand, and this one’s got it all: hacking and other cyber-criminality, an excellent cast that includes a great moral balance presented in a nuanced way, a little revenge for some lousy fathering, and, yes, aroace representation. Reese is among a cast of five who decide to commit the ultimate heist when one of their own, Bellamy, is denied financial aid for her dream school because of her father’s obscene wealth…even though none of it is going to her tuition. It’s Nari who comes up with the plan, brilliant hacker that she is, but each has a role to play in skimming a little off the top of all of Bells’ father’s financial transactions. What really makes this book shine is the moral compass of the character in perhaps the most precarious position: Nari’s boyfriend. This is one of those debuts that lands the author squarely on the “I’m down for whatever you write next” list.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted in February 2019 at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

I love a good heist story, but something about this one just fell flat for me - perhaps it’s the narrative style? It was enjoyable, but I don’t know that I’d recommend it. Which is not a flaw of the book’s, but of mine.

I only made it halfway through the book. It was hard to keep track of all the characters, and their voices didn't differ.

The Quick Cut: A group of five friends work together to steal lots of money from the rich deadbeat dad of the girl who got into her dream school but can't afford it due to finances.

A Real Review:
Thank you to Knopf Books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When the opportunity for this book came, I got really excited because it's not often you see a book about a heist nowadays in the YA world. Although every story requires a touch of imagination and reality checking, you still have to find yourself (as a reader) enraptured in the tale to make it a success no matter what the elements are. Unfortunately for this one, I couldn't stop myself from questioning the details of the situation long enough to enjoy what was happening.

Bellamy got the dream of a lifetime when she was accepted to MIT. Too bad she can't go: her financial aid has been turned down due to her uninvolved, rich dad. With his billionaure status, the system says her family should be able to pay on their own without help and since her mom has debt issues as is - loans aren't an option. Her four best friends won't let her give up though and hatch a plan to steal money from daddy dearest to pay Bellamy's college bills and keep her future.

From the outside, this looks like a story about five friends willing to go all the way for one another. In reality, what you get is a poorly conceived plot where the author spent so much time building the characters, she didn't bother to properly construct the story. I get that college is expensive, but no offense: this shouldn't have come as a surprise to Bellamy and crime isn't your only (or best option) here. I went to community college for 2 years to afford my bachelor's degree. Others apply for a litany of scholarships or explain the extenuating circumstances. This is a case of lack of imagination and the far too happy ending makes it clear that the author never stuck to her deadbeat father personality all that seriously.

So much time is spent telling you about these people, I found myself skimming at multiple points to get back to a plot point again. It seems that they lost track of the point and meandered back to it (which is definitely a reading pet peeve of mine).

With not enough plot creation and too much character focus, this heist misses the mark.

My rating: 2 out of 5

Although I'm far from a computer genius (it's a miracle I've managed my blog for so long), hacking stories fascinate me.  Nothing is private anymore, and a good hacker can get nearly any information they desire.  And that's downright scary.

These five friends are fiercely loyal and supportive of each other, and it's understandable that they want to help Bellamy.  Suspension of disbelief isn't anything new to me - plenty of stories require it.  But in this case, a phone call to MIT's admissions office seems like a logical first step before planning a heist of this magnitude - especially considering the numerous laws broken by these teens and the potential consequences of their actions.  Yes, Bellamy's dad is a total deadbeat for not having any contact with her, but it would have been more believable if all other possibilities had been exhausted.

Some of the interactions and dialogue between this group are amusing, and I especially enjoyed Bellamy's rational and literal explanations of things.  Even though the dialogue is entertaining at times, there's a tremendous amount of it among this group that does nothing to advance the plot, and other than Bellamy, I had trouble distinguishing the voices of each character.  Writing from five POVs is admirable and allows the reader more insight into the characters, but I referred back to the chapter header numerous times to see who was speaking.

Looking at other reviews, I'm in the minority on this one.  If you enjoy a good heist story (and who doesn't?), strong friendship bonds, witty banter, and are able to suspend disbelief, this may be the book for you.  In my case, I was hoping the plot would be heavier on the heist action.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I knew that I wanted to read this book once I heard the word Oceans Eleven. The movies have always been my favorite. Being an avid YA reader this combination piqued my interest. The story is told from different perspectives about the ultimate heist. I love books where I am able to know more the characters and what got them to where they are now. If you want action and character development then this is the book for you.

I loved the entire squad and their shenanigans, but my absolute favorite part was Reese. I loved that she used the word allocishet (I still have not read another contemporary that has used this), and I loved her whole chocolate analogy for aromanticism and asexuality. It was very well done. This book really felt like a nice warm hug at moments, and it's set my standards higher for contemporary books.

This book was a little dialogue heavy. The beginning of the book didn't flow as well for me. I was hoping to jump right into it and let it take me to a great action-packed story, but it had so much back information right away that it dragged the story down. I liked the characters and the concept of the book. But overall this book fell flat for me, nothing really grabbed my attention to keep me invested in the characters. It was an ok, but enjoyable read, but not something I would highly recommend.

Hilarious, yet heartwarming story of five friends. Bellamy does not qualify for a student loan because her father is filthy rich. So her friends decide they will hijack his bank account for her. There are individual POV’s of the five friends which I usually find confusing, but not in this case. It is beautifully done!

The world, and life, generally isn't fair but most of us have come to terms with the fact that you can't always do something about it. But if you could do something about it but it is considered morally reprehensible, as in Lillian Clark's Immoral Code, would you?

Five friends with different ambitions bring together their unique skills for an unbelievable heist: Nari is cultivating her hacking and coding skills to be of use at one of the larger tech companies in the future; her calm boyfriend Keegan is happy to go where she leads, but tries his best to balance out her domineering personality; Reese is an adventurous and creative person, unafraid to take chances, assert herself, and stand up for her friends; Santiago is loyal and has dreams of diving in the Olympics while attending Stanford on a scholarship, despite his parents' objections to it; and Bellamy is a physics genius accepted into MIT, but her rich and uninvolved father has ruined her chances of obtaining the financial aid she so desperately needs in order to attend. These five high school friends, spurned on by Nari's determination to seek justice on their own, come up with and/or offer the support they can for a plan to siphon off enough money of her father's vastly wealthy company for Bellamy to be able to attend MIT and pursue her goals. 

A swiftly-moving story, the narrative unfolds quickly and the story is propelled forward with the inventive ideas and associated actions of the group. The premise requires a significant amount of suspension of disbelief, yet if you're able to it does offer an entertaining tale. The text provided readers with the perspectives of each of the five friends involved in the heist, allowing for a variety of characters, whose stories and backgrounds are introduced, that readers could relate to; although I found that their voices, though occasionally distinct, were on the whole rather similar, to the point of being nearly indistinguishable, particularly as they shared a sense of humor (which was quite relatable and enjoyable since it also meshed with mine).

Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I really loved the characters in this book! It is told from alternating points of view between the five characters, and each character has such a unique voice, making it easy to differentiate between narrators. I loved the plot, the pacing, and the characters. I wish there had been a bit more dialogue, but other than that I found the book to be extremely entertaining.

This book was a twist with trying to get money to pay for school. I did see some romance with this book and the couples. Overall a great story.

I’m a huge fan of the heist style thriller with the Ocean’s films and Leverage as some of my favorite examples of that genre and I was eager to start this book hoping to have some that beautifully crafted maneuvering in a Robin Hood like mission but unfortunately this book is not it.

“Immoral Code” tells the story of five friends who look to hack into the bank of Bellamy’s father and secure the funds she needs to go to MIT.

This book jumps right in and gives us the POV for all five of our main characters with both part I and II of the book doing very little to explain the heist itself and instead focusing on very long exposition into their personalities and their parents I don’t know if this was to help us as readers tell them apart moving forward or just to fill time but either way it was a lot crammed into not enough space that leaves you waiting for the action you were promised in the synopsis to begin.

Speaking of the heist, they take their cues not from the great works listed above rather they tailor their plan to that of the 1999 comedy ‘Office Space’ only with less humor and more techno jargon that I was thankful to have my kindle for otherwise I would have needed to grab a dictionary to keep up with half the things they said. Also I know with the heist style format you have to suspend your disbelief a little bit but for this I couldn’t manage to make it too far with that in mind because committing a federal crime is literally their plan a. It’s one thing if they’re seasoned criminals but these are high school students and there wasn’t even a conversation of alternative measures to exhaust before giving this a go and the only character who expresses fear over the consequences or questions the plan as a whole is treated like he’s the crazy one.

If you want to see a well thought out plan with bait and switch maneuvering that makes you stop in your tracks to admire the mastermind behind such an idea despite its questionable legality I suggest you look anywhere else.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Perfectly titled, the story revolves around five high school seniors looking to pull off a gray-area heist to help fund the MIT education of a group member. It's a good friendship story with a backbone of doing something wrong for the best reasons. All the while, the debate of what's right and wrong rages as each friend deliberates their lives post-high school. The story unfolds nicely, but the characters are underdeveloped because the story is told from each of their points of view in a rotation. However, because of this, it is hard to fully connect with each of them.

The characters are each unique in their own way with talents (or not) that help them attempt the heist of the cenury. Is it worth the risk to right a wrong done by Bellamy’s dad-ignoring her since birth and having a rich lifestyle and a new family? I enjoyed how close the friendships were in the group despite differences of opinions. And I especially enjoyed the ending- the right balance of justice and consequence.