GOODREADS‘ SYNOPSIS
Julep Dupree’s a con artist and a sophomore at Chicago’s swanky St. Agatha High, where her father, an old-school grifter with a weakness for the ponies, sends her to so she can learn to mingle with the upper crust. For extra spending money Julep doesn’t rely on her dad—she runs petty scams for her classmates while dodging the dean of students and maintaining an A+ (okay, A-) average. But when she comes home one day to a ransacked apartment and her father gone, Julep’s carefully laid plans for an expenses-paid golden ticket to Yale start to unravel. Julep struggles to trace her dad’s trail of clues through a maze of creepy stalkers, hit attempts, family secrets, and worse, the threat of foster care. With everything she has at stake, Julep’s in way over her head.
THE MAIN CHARACTER
Julep is a feisty and independent main character, who doesn’t like to rely on others – but sometimes, she just can’t help it. It’s this ‘criminal mastermind plus minions’ vibe that’s very Heist Society. My only criticism of Julep is that she could be too trusting at times.
THE ROMANCE
“I’m a con artist. As much as I might wish I weren’t, I’m still all smoke and mirrors. You can love and illusion, but the illusion can’t love you back. Even if it wants to.” – p.265
The romance aspects were understated, but clearly there. Sam, Julep’s BFF, is clearly in love with her from page one – but being Julep, she’s oblivious. Then there’s Tyler Richland, her school’s resident heartthrob, who decides Julep’s worth his time when she doesn’t run screaming from the dead rat someone’s placed in her locker… I liked both boys, so I never really knew who I should be shipping!
THE CON
“I lean against the wall, surveying the destruction in the kitchen. Something tells me whoever tossed the place did not find what he was looking for.” – p.12
I really liked the beginning of this one and the ending, but the middle seemed to lack focus, as Julep and the gang went from one loose end to another – following clues her father had left for her. The storyline picked up somewhat once the mob made it’s presence known.
“There are two things you need to know about the mob. The first is that mobsters hate con men…. The second thing to know about the mob is that they have a tendency to eliminate the competition in a rather permanent way.” p.67
Book Blather 
Sounds good 🙂 Not gonna lie, I particularly like the title of this book.
I like the sequel’s title even more – Trust Me, I’m Trouble – it’s just too perfect!
Awesome!
This one and Julep grew on me as I continued to read and I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought. I was torn between the two boys as well! I’m really excited for the sequel–it seems very Veronica Mars-esque 🙂
I know. I’m not sure when I’ll get to read it though – I’m trying to stick to books which I already own at the moment, to try to reduce my shelves!
I feel ya! I’m doing the same thing right now with my TBR list 🙂
i have been on the fence for this book for a while but it does sound good. I am picky over my con and crime books. I want them to be fun and entertaning but if slow they are boring for me.
I wouldn’t classify this one as slow – there’s plenty of action – it’s just that I didn’t find the middle of the book as tightly plotted as it could have been. It would be worth a try, the writing’s very good!
Sounds like an interesting heist story, I recently bought this one on the weekend! I like how they’re following clues and the mystery, although the romance sounds meh. Thanks for the review!
I hope you’ll enjoy it! Give the romance a chance – it’s just a side-story, there’s not too much angst in there!
I have seen this exact premise around before, oh well
It sounds a bit familiar, but I promise you, the execution is unique!
I’m really keen to read this one! I haven’t really read any books like it, so I’m interested to see whether or not this genre is for me.
It’s a bit of a shame that the middle of this book was a bit slow and lacking, but I’m glad it picked up!
I have to say I love best friends to lovers storylines, so I kind of hope that is the relationship that is endgame, haha!
I’ve heard pretty good things about the sequel, so I hope you enjoy it if you get around to it, Annette! 😀
Best friends to lovers storylines are the best, aren’t they?! I don’t actually own the sequel, but I do plan to read it. I want to read a few more books that I already have first though. My shelves are just too squashed up right now!