Joint Review: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
Series: Heist Society #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: February 5th 2013
Purchase: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback

Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of loveable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it’s that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting-or stealing-whatever they want. No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale’s family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother’s billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there’s no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won’t let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother’s will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company’s fortune. So instead of being the heir-this time, Hale might be the mark. Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she’s willing to save her boyfriend’s company if it means losing the boy.

Lacey here.

Ally Carter is one of my favorite authors ever, because I love her Heist Society and Gallagher Girls series. I remember, a couple of years back, I saw a copy of I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You at Target, and desperately wanting to read it. I mean, c’mon. Spies? Girl spies? And cute boys? There was no way I wasn’t going to read it. And lo and behold, the next time I went to the library, it was there! So I immediately borrowed a copy, and there began my love for Ally Carter. Mind you, I was a young’un then, so Ally Carter’s books perfectly matched my little girly heart, and expanded my love for reading even more. That’s not to say, of course, that you have to be a young, preteen girl to enjoy Ally’s books! No siree. It’s been around 6 years since I first started reading Ally’s books, and I enjoy them today just as much as I did back then. The second book in the Gallagher Girls series, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, is probably one of the books I’ve read the most number of times. If you want light, fun, exciting, and unique books, then what are you waiting for? GO READ SOME ALLY CARTER BOOKS.

Alright, well, I was actually supposed to write my review, but I got a little sidetracked. So. ANYWAYS. I finished Perfect Scoundrels a week ago, and it was a perfect, light read. I finished pretty quickly, because there’s just something about Ally Carter’s books that make you unable to stop reading! (Although there’s also the slight problem of not remembering much from previous books too, unfortunately). Once you start one of Ally’s books, though, you get sucked in immediately into her world of thieves and/or spies.

I loved that the first chapter finally shows us the scene where Kat first meets Hale. It was so adorable and sweet, and you just know that they’re amazing together. The only bad part of the book was when Kat and Hale had their fight. I, of course, knew that THERE WAS NO POSSIBLE WAY THAT HALE AND KATE WOULD BREAK UP FOREVER, so I wasn’t too worried. Hale is as incredible as ever, but now, he has tons of pressure put onto him once he is labeled the sole heir to the multi-billion dollar Hale family company. It’s in this book that we finally get to see the side of Hale he tries so hard to hide from Kat, the world of the rich, the glamorous, and the heartless. Even Hale turns a bit cold towards Kat when he is reintegrated with the rich. I got so mad at Hale for this, and Kat gets so depressed by this, but she has a new mystery to solve (which involves a heist, naturally).

The best part of the book for me (besides Kat+Hale of course!) is Kat’s family and the relationships within her family. Her heist crew is hilarious and lovable, with the Bagshaw brothers being as crazy as ever, Gabrielle being her gorgeous self, and Simon being his dorky, nerdy self. Her father, Bobby Bishop, and her Uncle Eddie, are quite possibly my favorite secondary characters in this series. The love they have for Kat is just so heartwarming, and Uncle Eddie saying “I’ll be here when you get back” just exemplifies everything about the love they share. Kat’s family is her support, her foundation, and without them, she wouldn’t be the strong, tough, clever girl we know her as.

The end of the book is SO. INTENSE. We get this big buildup and then Kat does her thang and everything turns out brilliantly. BUT we still don’t know what Hale’s initials stand for! So I’m really hoping the there’s another book in the series. I don’t want to say more without spoiling, so I’ll just let Cathy and Shirley say what they think of the book!

5 hearts
lacey

Shirley here.

Ally Carter is legitimately one of my favorite authors of all time!  I mean come on, cute boys, spies, mystery and drama?! How can you not fall in love with books like that?

Like most of her books, I was quite excited to read Perfect Scoundrels! It started with the story of how Kat and Hale met, and it was the cutest story ever! I’d love to become a thief if that meant picking up (literally) cute boys…This entire book revolves around Hale’s grandmother’s will, which put Hale as the new owner of the million dollar company. But this book was action all the way! Just when it seemed like there was going to be a conclusion, I would still have over 100 pages to read.

AND THE END. GIRL. That was probably the most mind blowing part of the entire book. I tend to spoil things without intending to, so I’m just going to leave it at that. Sorry for a short review, but I don’t want this post to be too long! Basically, read it.

5 hearts
shirley

Cathy here.

Reiterating what both Lacey and Shirley have said, I absolutely love, love LOVE Ally Carter’s books! I first read I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You when I was in middle school, I believe. And I thought it was pretty interesting, but I wasn’t a huge fan of Josh. But as I kept reading the books, they kept getting better and better! I finally read Heist Society after my friend Cindy showed me it in eighth grade (?) , and I was so excited to read it because I was thinking, “Another Ally Carter book?! AHHHH!!”

So onto Perfect Scoundrels, which is the third book in the Heist Society series. I could not put this book down. Which is quite awful really, since I had a somewhat large amount of homework this weekend, and I delayed all of it until today (Sunday) just so I could finish the book! But that’s the sign of a good book right? Anyways, this book had a whole lot of HALE in it, which is probably why I loved it so much. Like Shirley said, there was action all throughout the book, and never a dull moment! I had to make sure to slow down a bit, because I think it’s important to try to pay attention to the details especially in Ally Carter’s books, since you never know which detail is crucial. And the Hale and Kat moments?! Oh my goodness, I was incredibly happy whenever they were in a scene together! The first chapter got the book off to a spectacular start. “Why?” do you ask? BECAUSE, we finally got to see how Kat and Hale met!! ❤ Whenever Hale referred to Kat as his girlfriend, I was SCREAMING “YES, YES, YES FINALLY!!” So you can imagine my heart shattering when they got into an argument, and Hale said, “No. Wait. It proves I don’t have a girlfriend anymore.” Like what the heck are you doing Hale?! I HATE YOU! But I really don’t, I love Hale; he’s the cutest guy ever, besides Zach of course. (=

And I’m so glad we finally got to meet the rest of Kat’s family! They’re hilarious, and all so lovable. I really wish I could be part of Kat’s crazy family! And when Hale finally met Kat’s family as her boyfriend, those were some of the funniest/cutest scenes in the book, in my opinion. (=

AND THE ENDING?! MY MIND WAS BLOWN. I can’t really say anything without spoiling it, and I’m really bad at keeping it secret when I get super excited about certain parts. BUT the ending? I actually had to do a double take, because in my rush to find out what happened, I was kind of confused. So yes, READ CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY.

YAY FOR ALLY CARTER AND HER AWESOME HEROINES WHO ARE SUPER SMART AND INDEPENDENT! And her incredibly cute guys!! ❤

SO READ THIS BOOK. (= And make sure you’ve read the Heist Society and the Cleopatra Emerald first. Bye! (=

5 hearts
Cathy

Reading Order: Heist Society series

Heist Society by Ally Carter Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter

#1 ~ Heist Society: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Uncommon Criminals: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Perfect Soundrels: Ebook • Hardcover • Paperback • Goodreads

Introducing Me!

Hey ya’ll!

Now that you’ve met my cousin Lacey, and her friend, Catherine, I’m here to introduce myself! My name is Shirley, I’m 15 years old, and a sophomore in high school. I’ve actually never even met Catherine before, and as you can see by the name of the blog, I was never really a part of this blog! (But that’s okay because the EY in LacEyCat can be for ShirlEY..eh? ehhh?) Anyways, I hope that over time, through our love of books, all of us can bond more and get closer!

Yes, as Lacey has stated, I was the one who got her into reading (go me!) and much like her, Meg Cabot was the first author who I absolutely fell in love with! I still read her books to this day! Although I do lean more towards chick lits, I also love dystopian and fantasy novels as well! Books are honestly my l i f e. I don’t know what I’d do without them! I’m also such a sensitive person that I always end up bawling after reading any book. I suppose that’s also a good thing because it means that I get really into them! I also end up falling in love with every single guy. Anyways, moving past my weird traits…

Since everyone’s listing their favorite books and authors, I thought I’d tell you some of mine as well!

Favorite Authors 

– Colleen Hoover (CAN WE ALL JUST PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT)
– Ally Carter
– Tahereh Mafi
– Sarah Dessen
– James Dashner
– Sarah Rees Brennan
– Alyson Noel
– Miranda Kenneally
– Veronica Roth

Favorite Books

-Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
– Divergent series by Veronica Roth
– The Maze Runner series by James Dashner
– Gallagher Girls (series) & Heist Society (series) by Ally Carter
– Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi

Those are all I can think of right now, but be sure to read those books if you haven’t already! Talk to you guys soon! I’m so excited to be apart of this blog(:
|Shirley|

Cathy Here! (=

Hello!

Well, you’ve met my friend Lacey, and now here I am! (: And it’s late at night that I’m writing this, so please forgive me if this isn’t the best intro ever.

BUT, first things first, being a huge fan of (perhaps the greatest show EVER) Once Upon Time, I would just like to take the time to point out that Belle’s alter ego on the show is named LACEY! And obviously you can see the coincidence. (; Yay, okay, that was completely irrelevant to this blog but I just thought that’d be cool to point out since Belle is known for her love of books. 🙂

So, yes we have decided to create a blog about books and although this may seem like just another book blog amidst the thousands already created, this one is quite special because it’s written by two girls who have an INSANE and some may even say an obsessive love for books! But we are proud of that fact, and don’t care what you think! (;

And Lacey’s reviews are always so dang funny to read because everytime I read them on GoodReads I can practically hear her screaming in rejoice about the latest novel she’s read. AND SHE’S READ OVER 700 BOOKS, compared to my measly 199. GOSH, I haven’t reached 200 yet. :\

ENOUGH ABOUT HER, AND ON TO ME. (=

I’m Catherine, and only some of my friends call me Cathy, but I really don’t care. I dislike the spelling of my name as “Kathryn.” Random, but it just annoys me. I don’t like the y in the middle. I’m weird that way. I’m 16 years old, yet I’ll be 17 in about a month! Mm, I’m an aspiring journalist, and I love anything and everything to do with movies. I love cheesy movies, and I’m such a romantic, which doesn’t bode well for books with sad endings. I’m actually quite ridiculous, because even though I know life isn’t like movies most of the time, I still believe we should all have our “happily ever afters” which explains my excessive FRUSTRATION and ANGER when a book has a terrible ending, or the romance plot in the book doesn’t pan out the way I want it to. I’m actually quite stubborn when it comes to stuff like that, just ask Lacey! She knows quite well how I angry and sad I can be if my favorite characters don’t end up together. I also LOVE the Lizzie Bennet Diaries! Another tidbit! Umm.. WHAT ELSE…well currently being in high school and all, right now my favorite kinds of books are ROMANCE. Heheh. And even though I’m okay with ebooks since they come up much sooner and are cheaper, I still prefer the old-fashioned paperbacks/hardbacks because it’s more tangible. (: And those kinds of books are much more personal and unique than ebooks could ever be, I think. (=

OKAY, so my favorite authors…

-J.K. Rowling

-Colleen Hoover

-Ally Carter

-L.M. Montgomery

-Rick Riordan

-Veronica Roth

-Susan Elia McNeal

BEST BOOKS (in this order…mostly)

1) HARRY POTTER  by J.K. Rowling

2) Divergent by Veronica Roth

3) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

4) Slammed & Hopeless by Colleen Hoover

5) Gallagher Girls & Heist Society by Ally Carter

6) Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

7) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

8) Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

That’s it for my intro, but I just finished Heist Society # 3: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter so I’ll have my review tomorrow!! And hopefully I’ll get Lacey to write her review of the book too since she finished it before me. (=

-Cathy (12:18 A.M. now 4.28.13)

WOOHOO Our Very 1st Post!!!

So it’s Lacey here and this is my and Catherine’s very first book blog ever!! So excited to be doing this. Although, to be honest, we’re very inexperienced about this world of book blogging, but I hope in time, we get to be so much more involved and better at it! 🙂

This is just an introductory post, for this new blog and for me. Catherine and I created this blog mainly for the purpose of pouring our hearts into reviews of books we read. We have Goodreads accounts, but we wanted to make reviewing books more special and fun, so we made this book blog! (Oh by the way, Catherine is almost finished with reading Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter, so be on the lookout for her review!)

So now onto me.

My name is Lacey. I’m 17 years old, and I’m in love with books. I started getting into reading when I was in 6th grade, thanks to a classmate and my cousin (shout-out to Shirley!). And from then on, I always had my head stuck in a book (though there was that anime phase for a while, but we don’t need to get too into that…). Meg Cabot was my jam throughout 6-7th grade, and I’m pretty sure that she was one of the biggest influences I had in all things bookish. Like, for example, a book I am most likely to pick up and read will 99.99% of the time have romance in it. If a book has a romance aspect in it, whether it’s a young adult or adult or any other book, you name it, if it has romance, I’ll read it.

So to get to know a little more about me, I thought, what better way than to list some of my very favorite books/authors? (This is only a very very short list of them, since I have way too many favorites. But don’t worry, Catherine and I will eventually make an even more elaborate post of all of our favorite books and authors.)

Authors (whose books I will always read no matter what because I LOVE THEM.)

-John Green

-Melina Marchetta

-Colleen Hoover

-Cassandra Clare

-Patricia Briggs

-Richelle Mead

-Karen Marie Moning

Books/Series (that I am ridiculously in love with it’s not even funny)

-Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry

-Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

-Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

-Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor

-Divergent series by Veronica Roth

-Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

-Easy by Tammara Webber

-The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Okay er… so this might be slightly longer than I hoped (I only wanted to list 3-4 names and titles) but oh well! I have SO MANY MORE to list that I am so excited to share. I hope you’ll bear with me as I learn the ropes of this blog. And I hope that Catherine and I will enjoy bringing this book blog to life.