I had a lot of fun with this historical heist novel set in Florence, Italy. The characters were all so lovable, and the plot to steal from the POPE was pretty wild. The chapters bounce between POVs and are pretty short and quick, keeping the novel moving forward constantly and unveiling how the heist is going down as it seems everything is unraveling. There are a couple of little romances happening on the side that I loved, and the crew has a found family vibe, a bit like "Six of Crows," which I loved, as well. I would love to read more about these characters, but to my knowledge this is not planned to be a series—but I guess we'll see!

The Medici Heist is set in 1517 Florence when Pope Leo X and the Medici family return to take up the reins of power. Con artist Rosa Cellini, in an effort to gain revenge, plans a heist to steal the indulgence money the Pope has been extorting from people. She enlists the help of master of disguise Giacomo, prize fighter Khalid, Sara the Tinkerer, and Agata an alchemist. Each member of the team has complications of their own that motive them, but also threaten to derail the plan. Rosa also enlists the help of Michelangelo and his assistant to gain access to the palace. Information about the politics surrounding the preunification of the Italian city-states is neatly woven into the narrative. As Rosa and the crew infiltrate the family guard, disarm Leonardo da Vinci's traps and deftly evade capture, they execute the meticulously planned financial ruin of the papacy.

I love anything to do with the Medicis so it's like this book was made for me. I love a heist, and this was suuuuuch a good take on the regular story.

A tinker, an alchemist, a master, and an apprentice plan the heist of all heists each for their reasons and each with their own set of risks and rewards.

Let me start by saying I love books with cons, thefts, and heists. I love it all, and this book didn't disappoint. Intrigue and mystery abound in this book steeped in history and imagination.

If you're looking for a good book to sink into and wonder if they will or won't they, this is a perfect choice.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book; I have voluntarily read and reviewed it, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

This is a great heist book that has a lot of Italian history, whether it was fiction or real you can feel that time period while reading the book. In this book you will see Rosa who is trying to get a team together for the best heist, to take from the Medici and shame him in front of everyone. You have Sarra the tinkerer, Agata the apothecary, Khalid the fighter and Giacomo the master of disguises. Together they come up with a plan to rob the Medici and take off with their money and start a better life and to put shame upon the Medici. Oh, and Rosa does have a secret weapon as well, Michelangelo. Can this team of misfits come together and make this happen?

I thought the book was good, it does start out a little slow and for me it did feel like I was missing a few things. I even found myself going back a few pages to see if I missed something, but the book just starts off right away. I liked the plot and found it to be different from the normal books I read. I liked that it was fast paced once you got over the hump and it didn’t slow down until the end. I thought the characters were well developed, but I would have liked to connect with the characters a little more. The story is told through multiple POV’s, and it did work for me, I just wanted to know them a little bit more and to be able to relate/connect with them. I thought each character’s backstory was heartbreaking and you can surely feel the reasons why each of them wants to do this even knowing what might happen if they get caught.

I liked that there was some romance entwined in the book but not enough that it ruined the plot.

I thought the book was wrapped up nicely, but I do have a question. I would have liked to know more about how the heist was completed, that’s all.

Overall, it was a fun read and I would recommend it.

I want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan for the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you to Caitlin Schneiderhan, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, & Feiwel & Friends for the eARC of this novel. As much as I really wanted to love this book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. It a good story, but just not what I was expecting.

A really interesting concept that ended with a let down. I just could not bring myself to care about these characters. 25% in and still didn't really have a good grasp on what was meant to be happening. The characters blended together and offered almost nothing that made me want to care about them. It read too much like a rough draft and I got bored very early on.

I was so excited to read this novel when I first read the title and synopsis. Historical Italy-inspired heist on the famous Medici family? I was sold, expecting lots of action, suspense, and historical intrigue.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get enough of either the heist or the historical aspects. Most of the book blurred together for me, and looking back, there are only one or two scenes that stood out in the heist preparations. I prefer heists to have lots of moving parts, packed with preparations that all come together in the end. Instead, I got the sense that this story is more centered around the characters than the heist itself. There’s more personal interactions and drama between characters, some of which felt forced into the story. For instance, certain characters' dislike for each other felt superficial. It wasn’t explored enough to substitute for the suspense I was anticipating to get from the heist.

Regarding characters, I didn’t feel super connected to them (personally). I’m sure some readers may love them, but I wasn’t very invested in their stories or personal stakes. In fact, I’d say Rosa alone had the most staked on the heist. Giacomo and Khalid blurred together. Though they both were POV characters, their chapters didn’t hold my interest. Rosa and Sarra felt more fleshed out in my opinion, though maybe it’s just because they held my interest a little more. Rosa also had a nice character arc at the end. I almost wish there were two main POV characters, the two spunky and street-smart females, who give us a lens for the rest of the heist. I think the intent of the extra characters was to give a fuller view of the moving parts to the heist, but honestly, I think the additional POVs weighed the story down too much. And as I noted before, I didn’t get the sense that there were a lot of steps getting to the heist, at least not ones warranting two extra POVs.

The most engaging part of the book was several chapters at the end when they were actually pulling the heist. Though there were some cliches, some of their tricks were quite clever. And there are a couple plot twists thrown in, so it ended on a fairly good note. It just took way too long to get there.

For this book, I think the key is to connect with the characters. If you like them/ their dynamic, you’ll probably like this book.

3.75 ⭐️

Medici Heist was a good read. I enjoyed the characters, but it could be a bit dense at times. There was just a lot of information presented to the reader. I really loved the setting and the entire premise of the book though. I love a good heist, and having it set during the Renaissance really added to the atmosphere. This was like a historical fiction version of Six of Crows, where the characters are all pretty young but managing to pull off these insane jobs.

I enjoyed it for sure, and I think others that enjoy historical fiction and heists would probably like it as well.

Thank you Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advance copy of Medici Heist. All opinions are my own.

2.5 Rounding up.

I unfortunately don’t have very strong feelings about this one. I enjoyed the “historical” period but felt the tone contrasted a bit with the time period. I think the idea was good but don’t know how well it worked in novel format. This would definitely be a cool movie or mini series, but as a novel it felt quite surface level.

There were portions where I found myself enjoying the story, but the time I was not feeling particularly interested outweighed the other.

If you’re going to run a heist with a large payout, going against the Pope and the Medicis is the obvious target. The Medicis have been extorting money from the people of Tuscany for years, and the people in Florence remember a time before the family’s rule began. Rosa is a seventeen-year-old con artist who is determined to pull off the ultimate heist. She recruits Giacomo a master of disguise, Sarra a tinkerer, Khalid a fighter and Michelangelo the famous artist. With the background of the unrest in Florence, the small group tries to pull off the impossible.

While I wouldn’t consider this a particularly accurate work of historical fiction, the setting and historical details (accurate or not) make a vibrant backdrop for the book. The historical setting add interesting color to the world, even if a reader familiar with the historical time period may have to occasionally suspend disbelief. It might not have been accurate, but it had the right feeling.

The characters have some shining introductory moments but don’t shine as much beyond that. The two girl characters are very similar. They both have “I am a strong, sassy woman who doesn’t need gender roles.” I think Sarra and Rosa would have been more interesting as one character isn’t of having two characters being average. Unfortunately, there’s not that much beyond that. Giacomo was my favorite and seemed to have the most characterization. Khalid I felt like I never got to know.

Their backstories are all tragic, but they don’t do much to establish the characters and either feel like they come too late or take too much time. There wasn’t enough time to develop the characters as individuals, and by the time we get more character details, the plot seems to get in the way. We also get almost nothing about Michelangelo, and I was confused the whole time why he was bothering to help them at all. It would have been enough character development for a movie, but for a book, it never felt developed enough. The lack of character depth also took away from the found family aspect that I would have loved otherwise. Not having the motivations for why they wanted to do this particular heist for so long also made it harder to care about that plot.

The plot was exciting at some points but frustrating at others. It started slow, and sometimes, the way things were described was hard to follow. It’s unclear sometimes how the different characters are needed or how the plan was developed. Switching POV characters every chapter also made it difficult to follow the main threads of what was going on. The last part was especially difficult to follow, and I had to reread parts to understand how they did the heist in the end. Needing to backtrack to figure out what happened took away from the momentum a heist story should have.

I think this is the kind of book that would make an excellent movie but didn’t quite make the book medium work. However, it’s a fun, historical-themed heist that I don’t regret reading.

I would probably describe this book as a combination of a Robin Hood tale with Ocean’s Eleven vibes set in Renaissance Florence. It definitely has the makings of an exciting swashbuckling story. Having been to Florence, I did really enjoy the descriptions of the city - the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and the David. I could really picture the characters in the Medici home and imagined them in the secret passages with all the opulence around them. And I think the history around this family was accurately described by the author. So, the descriptions in the book were the fun part for me. At first, I didn’t like the idea that Michelangelo was involved in the heist because it seemed unrealistic but this just added more fun to the story.
The parts of the book that I didn’t enjoy were lack of character development and unlikable characters. Even though each character had skills and their plan was creative, I found that I just couldn’t get behind them. And the worst part for me was that the book was just too long - I think a shorter would have been more appealing.

Many thanks to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group—Feiwel & Friends, author Caitlin Schneiderhan, and NetGalley for providing me the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: August 6, 2024

Set in Renaissance-era Florence, Medici Heist follows an ensemble cast of thieves as they prepare to raid the Palazzo de Medici. Meanwhile, political tension is boiling as Florentines buck against the Medici occupation of power and end of the Republic.

PROS: The setting is lush and grand. The author seems quite capable of imbuing atmosphere and history, along with delivering competent writing. The author draws out the historical fantasy by making Michelangelo a side character!

CONS: I struggled at first to fully immerse because the POV shifts every chapter, as we swing from one heist crew member to another. My only other nitpick is the tone. I admit to being picky regarding heist books. Heist books by nature should have plenty of action if not be altogether described as action/adventure novels. The tone should be buoyant for the most part, with a steady pacing. I fear that Medici Heist’s tone and pace both got bogged down by the baggage-laden relationship drama and political dialogue. The madcap antics and dazzling surprises and pay-offs—which I expect from heist stories—were shortchanged.

Very slick and superficial, too much like a novelization of a film. If this were to be a film, I'd gladly pay to see it, especially the sumptuous setting, but in a book I want more complexity of character development, which just was not the case here. Also in films I don't mind predictability--filmmakers only have an hour and a half for their story--but it takes longer to read a book, and I want more payoff for my reading time.

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends and Macmillan Children's for my advance electronic copy via NetGalley. My thoughts are my own.

It's Florence, 1517, and the Pope has returned to Florence. His arrival, on the tail of a bloody war to gain him entry, signals what may be the end of the fragile Florentine Republic. Rosa Cellini has also returned to Florence. She is gathering a group of other teenage misfits to pull off the heist of the 16th Century: rob from Pope Leo X his ill-begotten (in their eyes) gain and disgrace him in the process. But the question is: can they do it? And can they do it without betraying and destroying each other first?

I was sucked into this story from the first. It has real Ocean's 11 heist inspo vibes, and an absolutely fantastic set of characters, all fleshed out and multi-dimensional. I can easily see that Schneiderhan is a screenwriter--each character is an individual but fits into the overall whole, and the whole shines vividly. The set of events that this story is based in is real, and there are even some real people involved (think: Michelangelo!). This was an extremely satisfying read

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan! (I rated this 3.5 stars on storygraph).

This book was a little disappointing because I wanted to enjoy it. It had a great premise and I really enjoyed the writing style, however, the plot was so confusing. Between the main plot and then the storylines for each character (6 POVs), it got confusing fast while also not moving fast enough. Additionally, this meant that they glossed over some of the major points (such as motivation for each character). However, there was a lot of action involved, which was good. There was a lot of potential here, unfortunately, I don't think it was executed well.

*I received this book (Via eArc by Netgalley) for free from the Publisher ( Macmillan Children’s publishing group / Feiwel & Friends) in exchange for an honest review*

Medici Heist is an intriguing read with a captivating premise that keeps you turning the pages. However, the novel often feels like it was meant to be a film rather than a traditional book, which makes sense given that the author has a background in screenwriting. This influence is evident in the writing style, which is more visual and action-oriented, but at times this comes at the expense of deeper character development. One of the book's drawbacks is its sprawling cast of characters, which, combined with the frequent shifts in perspective, can make the narrative difficult to follow. There were moments when I had to go back and re-read sections to fully grasp the plot, as the connections between the events and the characters weren't always clear. The logic behind the heist and the way the plot threads come together could have been more tightly woven to enhance the reader's understanding and engagement. Despite these issues, the novel does have its strengths. The setting, particularly the church and pope-related elements, reminded me of Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons," which added an enjoyable layer of intrigue and historical depth. The motivations behind the characters' actions against the Medici family are compelling, though the ending felt a bit rushed and left me wanting more exploration of the story's resolution. This novel has its flaws, it is still an engaging read with an interesting concept and some memorable moments. I would recommend reading it more than once to fully appreciate the intricacies of the plot. I also look forward to reading more from this author in the future, as there is clear potential for even more captivating stories to come. If you are a fan of Dan Brown, Six of Crows (the heist aspect) and Gilded Wolves this is definitely a book for you.

Thank you so much to [ Macmillan Children’s publishing group / Feiwel & Friends ] and NetGalley for the ARC

I adore Italian history, and the sordid history of the medicis in particular, so I thought for sure this was a win! There were many fun historical details and ways to twist the usual jobs in a heist film to be historical, but at its core this was a heist story like any other. I kept wishing I didn’t see every move coming.
It was a fun setting, and if you enjoy heists and YA you’ll enjoy this, but it was ultimately a bit too predictable for my tastes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Caitlin Schneiderhan for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Medici Heist coming out August 6, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I was really intrigued by the summary of the book. I am obsessed with Medici history and I pretty much love anything about Italy. It’s an amazing country with a vast history. I also love heist books. There were a couple characters I was getting mixed up. I feel like they could’ve been a little more fleshed out. I think this would’ve been an amazing movie or TV series. It was a little difficult to picture parts of the book. Some of it was a little dry for me. I think another format would’ve been easier. I would definitely check out other books by this author.

I'm not gonna lie: I couldn't make it through the first few pages of this. It's such an interesting premise but my brain has no desire to read this. Maybe I will try again later.