From the description, I really thought I would like this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t my taste. I can see why others might like it and I can even picture it as a teen comedy movie. I really wish I could have enjoyed it like all the other positive reviews.

**FULL REVIEW**

I'm always pleasantly surprised when reading a book by a male author. Dinan delivered a fun, yet intense storyline with The Scam List.

Written in the male voice, not just the male point of view has a different vibe...one I rather enjoyed. Making them young was a bonus. I expected to be bored; just another punk kid making trouble for his mom when in reality, I get this complex and layered life of a boy who's a victim of his circumstances...but has fully embraced them and in the end, well, you'll have to read and see to find out.

Boone is a con-artist...well, a budding one. He toes the line of criminal and practical joker in a clever way that keeps him from fully experiencing the consequences of his actions. Darby keeps him in check...most of the time, but in reality, she truly likes him for who he is. It's just about balance with her...and I really enjoyed reading her character too...she's a take-no-prisoners, tell-it-like-it-is kinda girl with some great fighting skills. She and Boone make a great team; she keeps him grounded, he pushes her out of her comfort zone.

I felt the stresses Dinan pursued in this story too, the life of a single mother struggling to make ends meet...having a child that causes her more headache than she deserves, an absent father that a son just can't seem to let go of...frienships and rivalries between businesses and personalities. It was well worth his five-year writing stint to bring this young-adult novel to life. Full of details and little nuances one might've overlooked had it been rushed.

This book played out like a movie, one I'd be happy to watch multiple times because surely I missed something the first time around. Great job.

**4 Now You See Me, Stars**

Why did I wait so long to read this?! I loved it, couldn't get enough of it, and wish there was more. The scams are so much fun and watching Boone and Darby play them out was awesome. The plot is engaging and pulls you in from the beginning and the pacing was well done.

Boone is a funny guy, he's always cracking jokes or being hilariously cocky. He's a charmer and has learned from his convicted conman dad how to manipulate any situation to benefit him. Boone straddles the line of fairly harmless scams and bigger cons where people suffer. He can't stop from suckering someone out of ten bucks at the bar, but he isn't sure about taking people's life savings. Luckily, his ex Darby comes back into the picture to be his partner and moral compass.

Darby is a badass, she trains in a dojo and teaches young girls to defend themselves. She's great at scams, but doesn't want to be. Darby is a pretty honest person and I liked when she kept Boone in check.

The story is fun and exciting and I flew through it. The ending wasn't quite what I wanted, more hopeful than certain, but I was still happy. I'll definitely check out the prequel story and I'm looking forward to more books from this author.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was good however I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped to. It was an interesting story and I found the characters to be relatable, I just found that I wasn’t invested in what was happening towards the end.

I enjoyed the authors writing style so would definitely be interested to pick up something else that he wrote.

Solid 3 star book.

This was a fun book. I’m a sucker for a conman story and it was fun to have the character be a high school student. I hope to read more with this lead character.

this is such an interesting read! I had so much fun reading this, the book started off as thrilling and mysterious to me as I am very curious to see how things unfold. I absolutely love the plot but I find the ending and wrap up quite abrupt for my liking. It was fun piecing together the story and I definitely would recommend this to anyone who wants a quick read!

In “The Scam List”, Boone is the son of a con artist in jail for… well...conning. His mom owns an indoor swap meet, and his job is to help out. However, he gets conned out of the nightly deposit and finds himself conning other people (with his ex-girlfriend) to make up the money. As noted before, I found this similar to other books I have read that came out this year. Also I had a hard time connecting with the main character because he was very brash and sometimes annoying. It wasn’t written poorly and the story was still semi interesting, but I felt like it was hard to really get on board when I have seen other stories the same with characters I connected to more.




You can see my video review here:
https://youtu.be/m3XpkhwPhzM

Rating: ★★★

Boone McReedy, a high school conman, finds himself the victim of a scam after losing $15,000 of his mother's money. Now this smooth talking charmer has to team up with Darby West, a kick-ass, strong, independent and smart young lady who just so happens to be Boone's ex-girlfriend. Together they decide to only scam people who deserve to be scammed so they can make back the money that will save their parents' business.

"My dad's in jail, my mom owns a massive junk emporium,
and I spend most of my days in a dinousaur. How's your life going?"

I didn't have as much fun reading this as I thought I'd have. Don't get me wrong, this book wasn't bad at all, but I think my expectations for this book were too high, from seeing all the good reviews on Netgalley and Goodreads. It was definitely a lighthearted and enjoyable read, but I found it took a little too long for something "big" to happen. The slow pace kept me from reading longer than an hour at a time, until the "final con", which is when I finished the book in one sitting. I think I was just expecting more from the "best teen con artist team around".

Speaking of con artists, the cons were definitely my favourite part of this book. The writer explains just enough to help you understand what's going on, while at the same time still leaving some room for surprises. It was also nice that Boone was explaining the cons to the reader because that definitely made me feel more involved in the story. Another very positive thing about this book: Boone's character development, wit and sarcasm and the fact that this book has multiple badass women in it!

If you're looking for a light read with cons, heart and humour: I say give this one a go.

"You have my word. Would I lie to you?"

Thank you so much to #NetGalley for the arc.

This is like the breakfast clubs but in a twisted messed up way and I loved every minute of it!

This book blew me away. If your a fan of movies like Red and Oceans 8, or Tv shows like Suits and White Collar then this book is for you! By my extensive knowledge of con artist visual entertainment, you can probably guess that I am a lover of the genre. And with that high-calibre of qualification, I certify myself as an expert in this field. And boy! This did not disappoint.
The plot - outstanding and gripping.
The characters - complex, lovable and deep.
The humour - had me in stitches so often I had to stop reading to catch my breath.
But the thing that made this rise above so many other books I've read was the writing.
It is unlike anything I've ever read. On the surface, it's conversational and great to read. And then, you get these amazing moments where Boone will break the 4th wall and talk directly at the reader. Not only that but he starts to con you! And you fall for it time and time again, despite knowing that you shouldn't. It immerses you into the story like nothing I've ever read because you feel like one of the marks yourself.
Don't even get me started on Boone as a character! Without him (and the incredible way he is written) this book would be good, but nothing stand-out. He makes the entire thing go from a 3 to 5+.
Trust me you need to read this. Even if YA isn't your typical genre, you need to read this. The writing is a work of genius. I can't wait to read more from Kurt Dinan.
An instant favourite of the year!

‪ I really enjoyed this! The characters are fascinating and I loved the interactions between Boone and Darby: like a sexy, troublesome double act of con artists. I loved how smart this was and how Boone explained the cons so you were in on it... or were you?‬

I am really enjoying this book and cannot wait to finish it. It is great so far and is very funny. I will update my review once i have finished reading it.

This was so fun! Very similar vibes to Kurt Dinan's other book that I've read, "Don't Get Caught" which I really enjoyed. His books are just so easy-going and entertaining, and sometimes that's all you need.

This book had such a fast-paced and action-packed plot that it's really easy to read. Well at least I think it's action-packed. I don't know who wouldn't love a book full of scheming and conning. The schemes they pulled off were my favourite part. I also really enjoy YA books that don't obsessively focus on the romance aspect. It's way more fun to have a book like this where the characters are doing a specific thing, in this case "conning", and they do that thing without a teen angsty romance taking away from it. A really fun light read that I would recommend!

What a fun read! Take TV series "Leverage" or one of the "Ocean's [number]" films, make the central character have a slightly off-centre moral compass and buckle up for an easy, laugh-out-loud read.

This book originally caught my eye whilst on the lookout for something new for my book-mad early teen who I'm trying to convince that there is more to literature than dystopian fantasy. I'm glad that I read it before suggesting it to him as, in contrast to many YA novels, I think that this one is aimed at an age slightly higher than his, but, as he's a huge fan of Leverage, I think I may just trust him on this one, being prepared to answer a few questions on the way.

The characterisation was really good and I found myself buying into each of the players. The only thing that I failed to really get on board with was the purpose of the main caper - saving Garbage Mountain. Perhaps it's the influence of shows such as Leverage which so strongly steer the moral compass, but I think I needed a little more by way of explanation of the effect of the closing of the Mountain to really buy into the project.

As with so many YA titles, readers should not be put off by that classification - this book will be a few good hours, well spent!

With thanks to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

★★☆☆☆ (2 / 5)

The book was interesting, at first i didn’t really like the main character and how it was written but then towards the end i started to enjoy it (the writing, plot and character) i really liked the ending of the book.

Like most of us scared of becoming our parents, protagonist Boone doesn't want to turn into his conman dad serving a prison sentence. The problem is Boone is a skillful conman. Like really skillful. And when Boone screws up and loses a large amount of money belonging to his mom's business, he'll have to rely on the skills he learned from his dad to get the money back.

The Scam List was a quick and enjoyable read. It didn't blow me away, but where it did surprise me was in how well it was done. A protagonist as slick and unlikable as Boone is difficult to write, but author Kurt Dinan did a good job in writing character growth that still stayed true to who Boone is.

I had some issues with how many of the cons relied heavily on one-time-use props that Boone seemingly pulled out thin air and had no trouble obtaining despite the money trouble. However, this is a small qualm, and I was able to suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


Overall 4.5/5 stars. This book was great! If you’re looking for a light-hearted story, full of humor, but not devoid of theme, this one’s for you. The plot kept my attention, without being saturated with tension. It remained unpredictable in a satisfying way— the twists are clever and appropriate, such that they make sense without being obvious. On the heavier side, the themes include parental abandonment and defining morality. The writing itself was tight. There was enough description to immerse the reader, but not enough to hinder the pace. Similarly, the characterization was wonderfully balanced. Darby, and her anti-misogynistic agenda, (especially from a male author) were both hilarious and welcome. A strong female character who is actually strong and capable? Love it. Even better was her small/young martial arts student who could take down guys much bigger than she was (and had no reservations doing so).

Despite the great characterization and plot, with characters growing throughout the story without changing who they are fundamentally, I still wanted more. Namely, I wished more of Boone’s changes (and perhaps more change to occur in general) came from an intrinsic desire, rather than pressure from those around him.

While I highly recommend this book, I give it a 4.5 instead of a 5. Beyond the aforementioned character growth issue, I also know it’s not going to be a favorite of mine. Some of this is likely personal taste. I like characters who are empathetic and want to be the best version of themselves. Some of it is also the fact that while I was entertained while reading, the characters and plot haven’t stayed with me beyond the ending. The themes were great, but there wasn’t a profoundly different take on them, nor anything else to keep me thinking. Which is great if that’s what you like in books!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this book as much as I actually did.
This is the story of Boone McReedy, a professional, and very skilful conman. Boone enjoys the thrill of running cons and making a little pocket money, but he never goes too far as he does not want to get the attention of the police and land himself in trouble. I found Boone highly likable and enjoyed reading about his scams. Boone is not your typical unscrupulous crook. He cares deeply about his mum and their business, The Golden Mountain, has very good friends who would help him out whenever he needs, and cares about Derby’s opinion of himself. Boone is also introspective and analyses his actions and how these impact others. There is character growth in this book and Boone matures as the story unfolds.
The story is well written and fast paced. I liked the way Boone spoke to the reader directly and made me feel more involved in the plot. I also enjoyed the way the toyed with the reader and tried to prove to use how scams work while reading.
One of my favourite characters must be Kimberly. She is like quicksilver. Read the book and find out why. No spoilers.

The Scam List was a quick, fun read that had me smiling throughout the book.

Boone was a great narrator; he was humorous and likable, even though he wasn’t always doing good things.
Information was purposely kept from the reader multiple times throughout the book, which is a device that can annoy me when it’s overused to create mystery or suspense. It worked in The Scam List, however, because it doubled as showing Boone’s character. The book is written as Boone talking to the reader, and sometimes he lies or omits things. He left out or lied about things he was ashamed of, which was part of his character growth. He has a conscience, and he realizes when he wasn’t a good person.

The Scam List is full of fun, quirky characters. The only part I didn’t like was that it didn’t feel like justice was truly served at the end.

💰

3.5 stars

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this for review, all options are my own*

This was a book that I was very surprised to have liked because I admit that I started reading without knowing much about the story.
But I liked it, it’s a quick book to read, with very interesting characters, an incredible protagonist, clever and funny dialogues, an addictive story with several plot twists that you are not expecting.
I also really liked the narrative style of the story that makes the character talk and interact with us.
In my opinion, this book would make a great movie or teen series.
I highly recommend this book if you want something fast, funny, and witty to read.