NetGalley ARC | Heiress Takes All

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating ⭐⭐⭐

I snagged this one when I saw it billed as The Inheritance Games meets Ocean's 11. I absolutely LOVE The Inheritance Games SO SO much. And Ocean's 11 is such a fun movie, so this seemed perfect for me.

For the most part, it was fun. Obviously there will need to be some suspension of belief, given what these teens were up to in their respective fields as part of Olivia's heist crew, but that is always something I am more willing to do for YA than adult. I read YA because it is (usually) fun, and a kind of break between the heavy nonfiction I usually dive into.

But the plots and puzzles in The Inheritance Games series is far more complicated, while remaining believable, and didn't find that omparison to be accurate. Ocean's 11 for sure though.

Our main character, Olivia, has been cut off from her inheritance. Her mega rich dad cheated on her mom, kicked them out of their home, and is now getting married again. Though she is expected to be a guest at the wedding, it is the perfect cover for her plan - to steal millions from her father's various accounts. All she needs is the handwritten passcode. The passcode is in a safe, which she thus needs access to.

To pull this off, she recruits a handful of students and a former teacher to help. She has planned for every scenario - or so she thinks. A few wild cards threaten to derail everything, but Olivia meets each challenge head-on, and chaos ensues.

With some suspension of belief, as stated earlier, it was a fun ride. Things got pretty twisty and at times some of those were more distracting than helpful. But again, this was not meant to be a serious, complicated story. It was fast-paced and easy to follow. The only thing that really tripped me up was remembering everyone's code names.

There wasn't a ton of depth to the supporting characters, but that's pretty hard to create when a story takes place over a matter of hours and the singular goal of the team is to steal a shit-ton of money. But I felt like they worked well together and I knew them as well as could be expected within the time frame.

Olivia, on the other hand, we get to know well. She is so furious at her father, and rightfully so. We see her constantly struggle with her rage, but then also wanting him to really see her, be proud of her, be her dad.

Overall this was a fun read and I would recommend it to those who like YA and are looking for something light-hearted and quick.