Medici Heist
Caitlin Schneiderhan

This was an epic adventure from the start to finish. Edge of your seat action and drama packed.

I’m not particularly fond of historical settings but when there’s a con, I’m there!

15th century Florence, a band of grifters get together for an outlandish heist… if they don’t end up killing each other first.

*Medici Heist* by Caitlin Schneiderhan is a fast-paced, snarky adventure set in 1517 Florence, where 17-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini plans to rob the Medici family and their corrupt Pope, Leo X. As she assembles a crew of misfits—including a tinkerer, a fighter, a master of disguise, and even Michelangelo—what starts as a heist soon becomes a desperate fight to save the city from ruin.

The characters are a highlight, especially Rosa, who’s sharp, witty, and driven by a strong sense of justice. The interactions between the crew are filled with tension, humor, and plenty of action. The world-building is rich, bringing Renaissance Florence to life with intrigue and danger around every corner.

With nonstop action, clever twists, and a dash of humor, *Medici Heist* is a thrilling, un-put-downable ride for fans of historical fiction and heist stories alike. If you love stories like *Six of Crows*, this is a must-read.

This book had so much potential; I adore historical fiction and wish there was more in the YA space. And who doesn't love a great heist? But Medici Heist fell incredibly short and was such a disappointment.
Clearly written by someone who is used to writing for the screen, this book was terrible but would make an epic movie or show. It read too much like a script; infodumping all over the place! Plus, characters were flat and blurred together; at least two could have been condensed into one, and then been given more unique personalities.

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024, and unfortunately, it did not deliver the way I expected it to. I never usually have expectations for books, but this one I did because the plot seemed so intriguing and way up my alley! I was really excited to read it, but it turned out to be a slow moving long book, with the characters being a bit dry and the plot not as exciting as I thought it would be.

Medici Heist was set in beautiful Renaissance Italy, which it is hard to imagine a more beautiful setting. The writing let me down here because the setting was never really described, only, 'there piazza is here and on the corner is the church'. The way the characters spoke was very modern, and although the author said that this book is 'historical fiction (heavy on the fiction)', it would of just tied together better and made our characters stand out more.

It felt very slow to read, maybe because it was a long book, but I think it was lacking some sort of pizzaz or excitement. Maybe the fact that every character had a POV did make this book slower/longer as everyone had the chance to talk, in a sense. One of the reasons I kept going with this book was to see the romantic sub plot occur, but it barely did at the end.

The characters roles and descriptions should of made up for the boring-ness of this book, but maybe that is what contributed to it? They each had a sad backstory but it never really connected me to them. They felt somewhat dry? If these characters had been developed more, this book would of been a lot better for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for this ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Medici Heist was is an atmospheric historical fiction book set in the renaissance era. You follow several point of views which all revolve around a Heist that intends to steal from the Medici Family (who are currently in power and in control of many many aspects of Florence at the time). I found the premise of this book to be incredibly enticing, as heists, strategies, and a group of underdogs and misfits all banding together to pull off the "impossible" sounded so entertaining.

I enjoyed the cameo's of some very famous icons in history, that was really fun.

Unfortunately, after reaching the 49% point of this book I did decide to DNF (not finish). I really struggled to lose my self in the story from about the 25% after a promising beginning. I found this book to really suffer in the way of pacing, as at the point I had reached it really felt like we had barely made any headway in the plot. The Heist itself was far from beginning, and there were many chapters of slow, scenes that I struggled to find engaging at all. Once our core crew of characters were introduced, it felt like the plot slowed down immensely - which some people may enjoy the long build up, but I personally found flat.

The writing was nice, although I often struggled to differentiate the characters POV's/voices from one another as it went on and particularly our two lead FMC's started to feel like I was reading about the same character. I didn't find their personalities were present at all during their chapters and would have to keep reminding myself who's POV I was in. The writing was also not overly descriptive which is very much a personal preference, but the sentence structure was often very straight forward, to the point and blunt - which personally added to a feeling of being unable to lose myself in this story, or vividly picture what was going on.

I really agree with other reviewers in that I do think this concept would translate well onto screen, but personally I found the pacing and lack of plot progression was making it less and less enticing to continue on and eventually decide that I don't think this book was for me personally.

*Thank you to NetGalley & Hachette Australia & New Zealand for sending me a digital copy to review*

For those who love heist stories, particularly Six of Crows, you will enjoy this book. Medici Heist follows Rosa Cellini, a con artist, who assembles a group of misfits to bring down the Medici family who rule Tuscany with an iron fist. For those who don’t know the Medici were a prominent family in Florence during the Renaissance period. They were bankers and managed to raise their status even higher with members of the Medici family gaining one of the most powerful positions at the time, the Papacy.

It is Pope Leo X and his cousin Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici that is the target of Rosa’s plan, having recently returned to the city to pick up money that was “donated to the church”. I studied Art History at university and the period I was most interested in was the Italian Renaissance where the Medici were very prominent patrons of the arts. This combined with the heist element made me so excited for this book.

It’s a good heist book. There are plans that go astray, people with ulterior motives/secrets, and of course someone to figure out Plan B to get it back on track. There are multiple POVs in this book, mainly Rosa, Sarra, Khalid & Giacomo who have their own set of skills and baggage. I do wish though there was more from Agata, the apothecary. She’s just there in the background and I thought she was interesting but unfortunately, she didn’t get much development.

This book reminded me a lot of Six of Crows, to the point where I was figuring out what Six of Crows character correlated to the characters in this book. Rosa is Kaz, Sarra is Inej/Wylan, Khalid is Matthias, and Giacomo is a mix of Nina/Jesper. As a result, I kept comparing this book to Six of Crows and while it’s good it falls just short.

There is something that this book has though. A Renaissance master. Somehow Rosa enlisted Michaelangelo himself to be part of this heist and it’s the best. He hates being involved but he also despises the Medici more so he’s along for the ride.

Florence 1517, the pope has arrived to take rein on the town but only wants the power of it.

Definitely a great YA heist book which reminds me of a few movies and I love the concept that was delivered in it.

Thank you for letting me read this book.

I rated it 2.5 stars.

I love a good heist and only kept reading as I wanted to see how the heist unfolded.

This book would make a great tv series or movie. It did not read like a book but more like a script for a movie. I found it hard to keep track of all the characters as some of them had several names and it was hard to know who was who. I always felt like I was missing something and should have known more but there wasn't more to know.

Set in Florence 1517 where the Medici family ruthlessly rule the city, a group of young protesters form a team (including one famous teen, Michelangelo) to hold them accountable. Best summed up by the blurb, ‘a swashbuckling riot, beginning with a 'mud' pie to the Pope's face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action.’

Written by Caitlin Schneiderhan of ‘Stranger Things’ fame, it did tend to read more like a script than a novel. Therese were great action scenes, rich descriptions and genuine atmosphere from the period. However, it would have been better visually presented than through the written word. It would make for a great movie but as a book it was somewhat lacking in depth.

A perfect choice for young adult readers seeking a blend of adventure and historical intrigue.

I quite enjoyed this! Love the setting of Medici Florence! I think some of the main characters are better fleshed out than others, and some of the action got a bit too confusing to follow. But still a solid read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette ANZ for this ARC!

Immediately makes me want to book flights to Florence.

This book was such a fun time, and i thoroughly enjoyed the journey it took us on. It was vibrant and witty. 3.5 Stars!
I did however find that it was slow off the mark, and didn't really pick up into the high stakes until about halfway. I found myself struggling to fully divulge myself into the first half of the story.

I loved the multiple POVs and felt they changed perspective at just the right time to leave you wanting to know more. As someone who absolutely loves history, the creative use of historical Florence was delicious to read about and very intriguing. I enjoyed the commentary on religion, power and the battle for riches.

The second half of this book really came to the table and provided us with all the high stakes and devastating reasons as to why each crew member had a reason to rob The Pope. Each character's story contributed to the twists and turns all the way up til the end, and their unique skills all brought something different to light.

With the different layers of each character, it was a little hard to follow at the start. However, as more was revealed and we got little crumbs to each backstory, it really started to pay off. I also loved that we got a few cameos from some of our favourites Da Vinci and Michelangelo.

My main gripe would be that this book is very character driven for the first half, slow to start and i wish we got a bit more exploration of the characters origin stories. I feel as though we don't get to know them until the second half of the book. Overall i had such a fun time reading this one and think it would make a fantastic screen adaptation!

I really really wanted to love this book, it had so many of the things I love in a book, historical fiction, a heist, interesting history and strong female characters.

The number of “main characters”, constant changes in perspective and the writing style made it super hard to get in to and I found myself having to really concentrate to understand what was happening. I got into the story about half of the way through but by that point I hadn’t formed a strong connection to the characters.

The Medici Heist was a book with an interesting premise, blending the found-family-gang-heist trope with a quasi-historical setting. I say quasi because it was not, and did not purport to be, an accurate historical representation; however, it drew on historical figures and events for the background of the story and some of the characters. For the most part this worked well. The idea behind the heist appealed to me, and I liked the action and adventure aspects. At times, though, I would have liked to have connected a little more with the characters. The story was told through multiple POVs, which worked fine, but I found myself drawn more to certain characters and their backstories while being less engaged by some of the others. Overall, though, it was an entertaining and easy read, and I would recommend it to those who enjoy tales of misfit found families and daring escapades. I am giving it four stars.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book it was very well written and I loved the character development throughout the story.

I loved the concept of this book. A historical heist in renaissance Italy? I was so excited to read an ARC.
The premise is simple: Four thieves want to rob the Medici pope.
Rosa is a pickpocket lockpick with connections to Michelangelo (yes that Michelangelo) and an apothecary. Sarra an inventor whose family still believes she has a legal job.
Khalid knows how to fight and is undercover as Medici guard. Giacomo is a smooth talking actor/conman.

To start, I would like to note that the actual heist does not start until 2/3rds, almost 3/4ths into the book. Most of the first part is about planning the heist, dealing with hiccups and setting up all the plot threads that will weave together during the heist. Without modern day techincal equipment or walkie talkies, heist planning is slow work, after all.
I didn't mind it, but if you really want to read a full heist book, you might be disappointed.

I loved the setting and the use of the real historical Florence as backdrop for robbing The Actual Pope. There was more going on in Florence than clerics getting rich off people paying gold for their sins. All four characters were part of a bigger problem surrounding the Medici. There were disgraced nobles, republican riots, victims of the Medici's war crimes and unsavoury tradesmen.
It made things a bit confusing at the start, but it was very satisfying how every single part of this world eventually became something useful during the heist. The way each character's story contributed to the twists and turns at the end was very well done, and I loved it.

Once the second half started, I finished the book in one sitting. The POV switches felt like they came at the right moment, and the hints at the characters' backstories started to pay off layer by layer. The four characters pair off for different combinations for each task, and it was a lot of fun to read which specific parts of themselves they revealed in which situation, and to puzzle them together.

My only gripe would be the fact that the first half of the book relies solely on the characters, and I felt like their origins could have been explored a bit more. We learn how Khalid ended up where he is, and it's heavily implied how Rosa and Giacomo learned their skills, but I would have liked it if there was a bit more about how these people became the ones in the book. Their stories were good and resolved nicely, but I wished they would have started a little earlier. It would have made the first half less like set-up.

This is a great book and a wonderful debut for this author. I started reading it and just couldn't put it down. Florence 1517 and what a great setting it is. This book is full of intrigue, murder, betrayal and so much more. I love the Medici connection and the characters you can love and hate. This is not a boring read at all and it kept me wanting more.

The story revolves around con-woman Rosa Cellini and her plans for the greatest Renaissance robbery. This is the story of how this all pans out and what it means for this city. It is so easy to read yet has plenty of depth and character to keep you on your toes. Even though at times the pace of the book was a bit slow it did not take away from the intrigue of the story. It flowed well and made me want to read more. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.