How to Lead a Life of Crime

Book Review

Young Adult

Author(s): Kirsten Miller

Genre(s): Young Adult, Mystery, Contemporary, Thriller, Romance, Fiction, Crime

Format: Hardcover

Published: Febuary 31, 2013

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 434

Summary

A meth dealer. A prostitute. A serial killer. 

Anywhere else, they'd be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they're called prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young criminals  for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to graduate. The rest disappear.

Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick's old flame. They've been told only one of them will make it out of Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other--or will the school destroy them both?

My Review

This.
Book.
Was.
Awesome!!

It's a perfect combination of thriller with a sprinkle of romance, mystery, and crime!

When I first started I was thinking, "Wow, this Flick guy is pretty cocky!" And I was pretty impressed too. In the beginning, I thought Flick was a poor kid whose (**ALERT! THIS IS GOING TO BE A SPOILER!**) mother was trying to save him and his brother, Jude, from his alcoholic father who rearranged their faces. Turns out his father is a multi-millionaire, and Flick and his family live in this huge mansion, so I like how Kirsten Miller got you to think one thing, and then surprised you with another piece of info that totally made you re-think everything you just read!

And then when Flick meets Lucian Mandel, I thought the building Flick robbed was going to be the building where Mandel starts Mandel Academy, and it turns out I was wrong too.



And once Flick gets into Mandel Academy, I was blown away. Totally blown away. The book was so good, like, I was just, UGH! I can't explain!

I knew Gwendolyn was up to no good when she was throwing herself at Flick.

And Flick was being so hilarious!

And then when Joi came, and was the boss, that was smart thinking.

And Mandel was a psychopath.

And then when Gwendolyn turned ugly, and crazy and shuddered like an old woman.

And then when she tried to take her chip out and ended up bleeding to death because she was an idiot.

When Flick talked to his dad, I thoguht he was being a bit too harsh, because I knew his father wasn't going to beat him. He was thinking rationally. I felt sorry for him.

Then when his dad killed himself by stepping in front of a fire truck, after he tells Joi that Flick's mother is alive!

This book is the best book I've read in a LOOOONNNNGGGG time.



I recommend it 1000000000000%.

I have a new appreciation for Kirsten Miller, and I hope hope hope hope hope hope hope hope HOPE that there's a second book!

Au revoir!

-Alexa ♥