Rosie Somers

Review first posted on Realm of the Sapphired Dragon 8/8/17

*I received this book for free from the publisher in return for an honest review*

I really enjoyed this story. It was sweet and engaging from the very first chapter. 17 year old Mari is from a family with long glorious tradition of jewel thievery and that has been the life she has led so far. After finding out a dangerous rival is out to get them, Mari and her mother head to New York to hide out and Mari has to pretend to be a normal teenager for the first time in her life.

Firstly, I liked this spin on the extraordinary teen hiding out as a regular teenager premise and Mari was a likeable main character. I thought the idea played out well in the story giving a plausible fun and intriguing story line. We got see both the jewel thief side of her in action as well as the regular teen and Ms Somers showed the contrasts well which really helped make mar are more rounded and believeable character.

The pace and flow of this story really hit the mark. I was in the story from the first page and quickly flew through this only putting it down briefly once. Mari's voice was relatable and I cared what happened to her and to Will. I liked the twists and surprises the author threw in and while i picked some of it, I still felt compelled to keep moving threw to the story to see how it all turned out.

Overall the story is great blend of sweet romance, action and adventure with feels a plenty and a satisfying conclusion to leave you smiling.

I really enjoyed this and gave it 3 3/4 stars :-)

Sapphired Dragon xx… (altro)

When we first see Marisol in Diary of a Teenage Jewel Thief, she's mid-heist, taking the lead on a job for the first time ever. Things don't go exactly as planned, though, and when next we see her she's attempting to live the life of an ordinary NYC teen for the first time ever. Her fish-out-of-water issues are endearing, but I was a little bummed that her jewel thief skills didn't end up getting more of a workout in the rest of the novel (though her solution to forgetting her locker combination was fantastic!)

Will is a likable character as well, but it didn't feel like we (or Mari, for that matter) really got to know him well enough. Both their relationship and the main suspense part of the plot felt as if they could have been more fleshed out, given us more. The resolution of both felt a bit too pat and easy. The ending did make it seem like this is the potential first book in a series, though, so possibly future books will give us more--more chances for Mari to show her stuff, more character and relationship development, and more involved suspense plots. Fingers crossed!

Diary of a Teenage Jewel Thief is a cute YA story with an engaging main character, and though it's a little lighter on the suspense and romance than I'd like, it was still a fun way to pass a few hours.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.… (altro)