Review

I really shouldn’t have worn heels to my very first heist.

A couple of years ago, 17 year old Olivia Owens had it all, living with her artistic mum and her mega-wealthy dad on a palatial Rhode Island estate: fancy clothes, restaurants and private schools. Until Olivia caught her dad cheating on her mum, and told her. Thanks to the pre-nup, Olivia’s mum got nothing, and now they’re living in a tiny two bedroom house, with her mum working three jobs and buried under a pile of medical debt. Olivia’s dad, Dash, overbearing and over-privileged by nature, and coldly furious at Olivia, not only kicked her out of her childhood home, but refused to continue paying for her private school. They’ve almost been erased from his privileged, wealthy life.

But Olivia has a Plan. A plan that started forming as soon as she received the fancy wedding invitation to Dash’s ultra-expensive, celebrity-studded wedding to his (only slightly older than Olivia) third wife. Why should Dash have so much money and her hardworking mother be mired in debt? Why shouldn’t she, the ex-heiress, just… redistribute some of the money in his off-shore accounts? He won’t see it coming. He doesn’t think she’s capable of anything beyond taking vapid selfies.

Olivia assembles an elite crew of talented public and private school students to pull off the heist of a lifetime at the wedding of the season. No one knows the estate like she does; she’s got every angle covered, every contingency planned for.

Or has she?

*

I really enjoyed this. It’s a super-fun, zingy, twisty, tightly plotted, lighthearted heist narrative, full of fun characters, interpersonal complications, and ritzy wedding details.

It’s all narrated from Olivia’s point of view, and, over the course of the novel, we get a well rounded view of her character and motivations. Other characters are less fleshed out, but that’s fine: it’s a crime-action book, not a character study. Olivia’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend Jackson, inconveniently still invited to the wedding, provides a good dose of emotional shade and romantic drama. Her relationship with her narcissistic and bullying but charismatic father is also complex, and explored in a reasonably nuanced way for the genre.

The beginning is a little bit slower than I’d like: it starts with an in medias res flash forward which I think could be a bit shorter. Then we’re introduced more to the backstory and meet the crew — medium pace. When they all get to the wedding, the pace really picks up and starts zipping along. The conclusion is satisfying, but they also leave the door wide open for a sequel, which I see is due out in the middle of this year.

Highly recommend — I think students will love it.

Age: 13+

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There’s no sexual description in the book but readers are explicitly told that Olivia and Jackson had a sexual relationship (backstory); passionated kissing scenes—not too steamy; dress zipper unzipped (nothing happens, it’s a ruse); Jackson strips to his underwear to change into a tuxedo; brief mentions of “hooking up”; a few mild swear words (can’t remember what… a few s-words, I think); theft; blackmail; mild kidnapping; marital infidelity (mentioned); Jackson is accused of cheating on Olivia; estranged family relationships, particularly between Olivia and her father; narcissistic, bullying father; family debts & financial pressure; hostile relationships between Olivia and stepmothers; unfair dismissal of teacher. Main romance and side relationships are mlw; most characters assumed white, with some racial diversity among minor characters; warm and supportive friendships, family relationships and romantic partners also depicted.

Audio notes: good, but had to listen to it at 1.2 speed for it to proceed at sufficient pace.

Cover notes: I love this cover!! It’s full of little callbacks to the book. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it’s great. (Also: yum.) The paperback cover is also good, but this one is the queen.

*

Wibberley, E., & Siegemund-Broka, A. (2024). Heiress takes all (L. Knight Keating, Narr.) [Audiobook]. Little, Brown Young Readers.

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