Medici Heist
by Caitlin Schneiderhan
Publication Date: August 6th 2024
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Find This Book: Medici Heist
Source: NetGalley eARC
Rating: 4/5
Welcome to Florence, 1517, a world of intrigue, opulence, secrets, and murder. The Medici family rules the city from their seat of wealth, but the people of Florence remember the few decades they spent as a Republic, free from the Medicis and their puppet Pope, Leo X.
Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis - and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they've been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance's greatest robbery, she'll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.
Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis' noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction - if Rosa and company don't destroy each other first.
Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a 'mud' pie to the Pope's face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.
The scene is renaissance Florence, 1517, and the Medici family rules the city with a puppet Pope at their side. Extorting the people of Tuscany, the Medici’s sit upon an exorbitant pile of indulgence money. Con-woman Rosa Cellini hopes to steal it right from under their noses, *if* she can pull off the greatest heist of all time.
Medici Heist introduces us to a diverse cast of characters, each getting their individual times to shine. Rosa will need to rope the best of the best into her crew if she wants to steal a mountain of money and live to tell the tale. Her team consists of Sarra the tinkerer, Agata the apothecary, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo the master of disguise. To top it all off, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of Michelangelo (yes, THAT Michelangelo).
This was a super fun read that solidly sets the scene in historic Italy. It does a fantastic job of incorporating the setting into the story and has beautiful descriptions, great scheming, and entertaining action scenes. This was truly the foundation of a terrific book. What knocks this down a star is the lack of dimension. I’d liken the experience to reading a play. The play loses something in the written form without actors adding in the depth and emotion. Actors bring a lifeless script to life by adding emotions and tone to the text. My favorite authors craft characters that jump off the page and while Medici Heist was descriptive, cinematic even, the characters fell flat. I was not surprised to find out after reading that Schneiderhan is a script writer.
Let’s dive into the character work more specifically. The characters were funny, they had their roles to play, and I enjoyed the story they had to tell. Yet, they were all just too shallow and underdeveloped. Some further revision of the novel could have massaged a bit more life and personality into them. While I could suspend my disbelief and still enjoy the ride (it is a great heist), the POV’s were just too weak for me to give this book five stars.
If you love a good setting with a great atmosphere, I’d still recommend this read! It has great vibes but could have benefitted from deeper character work.
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