Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan!

Heist? Found family? Renaissance FLORENCE?! Count me 100% in!

I loved the whole cast and their relationships, and it was particularly refreshing to see a teen girl in the 'mastermind' role. The genre tropes were executed smoothly, both fitting the expectations of a heist story while coming with enough surprises and fun twists to keep the story feeling fresh and new.

3.5 stars. The book is set in Florence in the early 16th century. A teenage thief named Rosa gathers a crew of outcasts to pull off a heist and take revenge on the Medici family, including Pope Leo X. The premise of this book sounded great, and I was very excited to read it. However, at the end of the day, I have mixed feelings. I really liked the general concept, the characters, and the overall atmosphere of Renaissance Florence, but there are elements that bothered me.

On the positive side, this is the best YA novel I have read in quite some time. Most of the credit for that goes to the characters, who I think are the brightest aspect of the book. The whole heist team—Rosa the thief, Sarra the tinkerer, Giacomo the master of disguise, Khalid the fighter, and the two painters, Domenico and Michelangelo himself—really appealed to me. Considering the large number of characters, each had a fairly solid plot. I rooted for them both as a group and as individuals.

That said, my biggest problem with this book is that it is very uneven. Until the middle, the pacing was very slow for me, and I was generally disappointed. Even though the author was building character motivations (which is a good thing), I felt it could have been done better. However, from the middle on, the action really picked up and I couldn't put it down. I really liked the ending. I must point out, however, that for a book with "heist" in the title, the heist itself takes up very little space, beginning about 75% of the way through.

The Medici Heist is certainly not without its flaws. However, as a reader who enjoys character-driven stories even more than plot-driven ones, I am willing to overlook shortcomings if the characters are memorable. I was not enchanted by this read, but I will definitely remember its found family vibes.

My review will be published on Goodreads and on retailers' websites within two weeks prior to the release day.

As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot or publisher's blurb...

Overall I enjoyed this book. There were some great characters (including a fictionalised version of Michaelangelo himself!), all well described and some likeable.

The overall "heist" doesn't actually take up that much of the book - a lot of the plot is spent establishing the characters and motivation for the heist. At times I found the pace a little slow, but overall it was a good read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

The good: the setting for this is delightfully well done, with a richly drawn fictional version of Renaissance Florence that draws heavily on the powerful Medici family and their dramas. The world is well thought out and developed, with some truly beautiful descriptions of the city and it's inhabitants. I also thought the found family aspect was well done and believable.

The not so good: there's just far too many characters and as a result I found that all of them weren't quite well developed enough. Of them all, I probably liked Rosa the most as she has a clear vision for the heist and has the motivation and drive to propel the story. The others less so.

Overall a pretty fun read with a nice atmosphere but I'm unsure if this will stand out amongst the sea of other YA novels.

This was an entertaining jaunt through renaissance Florence.

Rosa is a conwoman who wants revenge on the new Medici Pope, Leo X. She plans the heist of a lifetime, along with a colourful blend of new found friends. This was well written historical fiction, introducing actual historical characters alongside the fictional ones. Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in return for my honest review.

Oceans Eleven meets the renaissance!

The above is the perfect tagline for this captivating read.

In 16th century Florence, amidst a backdrop of opulence and political intrigue, sharp-witted con-woman Rosa Cellini hatches a daring plan to rob the powerful Medici family of their ill-gotten wealth. With a ragtag team of misfits, including a tinkerer, a fighter, and a master of disguise, Rosa sets out to execute the Renaissance's greatest heist.

Along the way, they enlist the reluctant help of famed artist Michelangelo, and as tensions rise and secrets unravel, the heist evolves into a bid to save Florence itself.

With a rich tapestry of characters and a refreshing embrace of LGBTQIA+ representation, the story offers a dynamic blend of heist intrigue and historical flair.

While some sections could have benefited from a quicker pace, the payoff is worth the wait, culminating in a thrilling finale.

A team of misfits unite to steal from one of the most powerful and dangerous families in Italy in this historical heist. Fast paced and well executed, Medici Heist is an easy and engaging read.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This book is completely compelling stuff. The easy prose were totally and pleasantly unexpected. The story a crashing action packed assembling of a crew to make a robbery of the most powerful family in Florence in 1517. The Medici. It felt intense in places, tingling and magnificent.

Themes include: family, trust, friendship, deceit, religion, betrayal, love, robbery, heist, violence, riot.

I enjoyed every moment of this story. I rooted for the group to be successful, I cared for each character. So, when things started to implode, I wondered what would come next. Captivating and dazzling, you won’t want to miss this book.

I highly recommend Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan.

I really enjoyed it at the start , the characters were interesting with a thread of humour running through. I felt it a bit slow in the middle and a bit confusing. Then the story picked up to an exciting finish. I thought as I was reading that it would make a good movie .

A heist like no other - we follow a team of young ‘players’ as the scheme to steal all the Medici’s money. An apt title for an easy read.

In a multi perspective novel it’s atypical for me to like all the characters equally, but Medici Heist pulls it off well - keeping the reader entertained and engaged in all the points of view with the characters keeping enough secrets from the reader til the end.

Very much a found family novel, I enjoyed getting a look into Florence in this time period, whilst still feeling like it was a modern story. It balanced the gap between realism and voice well.

All that said, it didn’t really woo me. It was a good read, but probably not something I’d pick up again or die on a hill defending.

3/5

What a delight this book was!! Given the premise (I care DEEPLY about the Italian Renaissance) I went in with very high hopes, messaging my friends 'I hope it's good, I really want it to be good, I'll be SO SAD IF IT'S NOT GOOD'--and great news, it was SO GOOD! I haven't seen much marketing yet, but this is definitely a title 'for fans of Six of Crows'; in fact it was more of less Six of Crows but with a brighter colour palette. As a consequence, while I did like Six of Crows I liked Medici Heist better--I feel like it absolutely nailed the YA heist book from every angle. In fact, this may just be my new platonic ideal for the genre.

The characters sparkled, and felt like actual teens (unlike in SoC, where the ageing down was very apparent). I loved the whole cast and their relationships, and it was particularly refreshing to see a teen girl in the 'mastermind' role. The genre tropes were executed smoothly, both fitting the expectations of a heist story while coming with enough surprises and fun twists to keep the story feeling fresh and new. The worldbuilding was great--it definitely didn't read like a 'proper' historical fantasy (historical accuracy was clearly never the aim) but the *flavour* was on point, striking the right balance (to me) for what the book WAS aiming for. For example, I was very apprehensive about Michelangelo being included as a character, but ended up really enjoying how Schneiderhan wrote him while simultaneously being pretty sure he was not very much like the real Michelangelo at all. But honestly, who cares about historical accuracy when the outcome is so FUN?

And I think that's why Medici Heist worked so well for me: it really was just so much fun, and you can tell the author had just as much fun with it as the reader. It's quick, clever, and I rec it wholeheartedly for anyone who'd like a YA heist that dances across the rooftops instead of skulks in their shadow. Can't wait to see what Schneiderhan comes up with next!

Thanks so much to Little, Brown UK and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review!

This was one of the most anticipated books of my year and is not a bad book I just find weird when a book where the plot is about a heist and the whole heist is like 15-20% of the whole book. Characters were really interesting and well developed, I find the book well written, well structured but was to slow paced and become tedious on a part of the book. I liked how the ambiance was so described and how we could find characters that become lovable by us the readers. It made me want to visit Florence and I would recommend this book to people because it worth a read

Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue and opulence, murder and betrayal. A sharp witted conwoman arrives in the city the same day at the Medici Pope returns to take up the reins of power. This is not a coincidence. This new Pope is extorting a mountain of indulgence money from the people of Florence to bolster his power and standing. Rosa has a plan to take it back.

To pull of the greatest robbery, she’ll recruit a team of highly skilled misfits: a tinkerer, a fighter, and an irrepressible master of disguise. But as the authorities draw closer and the noose pulls tighter around the land, old secrets resurface and tensions in the group start to flare. What began as a robbery could be the key to saving the city itself, if Ross and company don’t destroy each other first.

This novel weaves together a cast of loveable characters, a richly detailed historical setting and a thrilling narrative that can only be described as cinematic. There is something incredible about a heist happening in the midst of a historical event. For any reader who enjoys a band of misfits taking on an extortionist in style while flouting their abilities beneath the noses of the authorities.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘯

I don't typically read YA so take this with a pinch of salt as I'm not the intended audience. I thought aspects of this were fun but it all felt a bit juvenile.

On the whole, I enjoyed reading this book. The premise is a lot of fun: a group of young people (including Rosa the Grifter, Sarra the Tinkerer, Dominic the Apprentice and Giacomo the master of disguise) are embarking upon a daring heist with the corrupt pope and the Medici family their target. Set in sixteenth century Florence, there is a swashbuckling feel to the novel and it is a great read for young adults. Michelangelo also appears in the story and Caitlin Schneiderhan’s prose fizzes with anticipation as the plot thickens and the cast of characters increases. A slight downside is that there are arguably too many characters, the book is a tad overlong and the plot becomes increasingly complex as it reaches its denouement. Overall, this is not a book that takes itself too seriously and it kept me entertained. 3.5 stars from me!

This book is amazing. The characters are all so loveable and well developed, the pacing is slow but there's always something happening you're never bored. If you love six of crows (and you ship wesper) you will love this. The romances are subplot, one is fine and the other is one of the most swoonworthy i've ever read i'm still thinking about them.
My only complaint is that for a book with heist in the title the actual heist only takes about 20% of the book

A tale filled with found family, set in Florence, thats centred around a heist (thats totally just about money, and definitely isn’t at all personal….) YES PLEASE. This book reads like a movie and doesn’t let up, from the coming together of a team of individuals to the setting everything about this book just hit the spot.

I adored the team and learning more about them as they come together to pull off one of the biggest heists ever attempted against the most powerful family in Florence. The more we learn about the gang, the more their personal lives could lead to the heist falling apart.

The political weavings within this tale are cleverly woven to increase the stakes and explore how the power hungry and their schemes affect the city as a whole.

A welcome addition to my collection of books that marry the impossible heist and found family tropes.