Title:  Medici Heist
Author: Caitlin Schneiderhan        
Genre:  Historical fiction, YA      
Rating: 4.0 out of 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.

This was an interesting read! I enjoyed the historical aspect of this a lot, and the complex relationships between the group of them. I thought the action was entertaining and I was invested in if they managed to pull off the heist off or not. I loved that the whole ending was a surprise and I didn’t see it coming at all.

Caitlin Schneiderhan lives in L.A. Medici Heist is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan Children’s Publishing in exchange for an honest review.)

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