How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller

How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
Series: N/A
Source: Bought
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: February 21, 2013

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 the Mandel Academy. Will they find a way to save each other—or will the school destroy them both?

How to Lead a Life of Crime was nothing like I expected - I'll admit that I've heard some bad things about it, and I just wanted to see if they were true. And in my opinion, they weren't true at all. I thought that it was really gritty and interesting; and the world was just as well done. This was a crazy book, truly.

Our main character, Flick, was a good guy. He may be a pick pocket, but his moral compass points straighter than some I've met. He was loyal as all get out, and really, he just did what he had to do. No one should really blame him for that. And in that school, he may have been one of the only remaining sane people.

How to Lead a Life of Crime was a conspiracy theory and a half - with a crazy scientist, an underground school, and lots of psychopaths. And a few sociopaths, to keep the mix interesting. I liked it. I liked it a lot. It was an amazing read, in a psychotic thriller kind of way.

And some of the side characters? Whoa. Gwendolyn's back story was freaking insanely well crafted, and just like most of the events throughout this read, it was crazy. I loved the fact that the author could create characters that even as teenagers could be seen as psychotic.

The imagination used to create this book was great - I never expected it. It was a tad bit slow, but it definitely makes up for it in the end - I really liked the ending.

How to Lead a Life of Crime shows that no matter how psychotic you are, or how bad people think you are - everyone has a capacity for goodness inside.