A Million to One by

Pages: 304 

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books 

Released: 5th of January 2023 

Adiba Jaigirdar, author of one of Time's Best YA books of all time, gives Titanic an Ocean’s 8 makeover in a heist for a treasure aboard the infamous ship that sank in the Atlantic many years ago.

A thief. An artist. A acrobat. An actress. While Josefa, Emilie, Hinnah, and Violet seemingly don’t have anything in common, they’re united in one goal: stealing the Rubaiyat, a jewel-encrusted book aboard the RMS Titanic that just might be the golden ticket to solving their problems.

But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they’ve worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes. While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer . . .

Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper and Girl in the Blue Coat, this high-seas heist from the author of The Henna Wars is an immersive story that makes readers forget one important detail— the ship sinks.

What I Have to Say 

This book was almost there for me. It had a great premise, lovable, diverse characters and a thrilling storyline. The only problem I had with it was that it was just too predictable. Obviously you can't get away from the fact that all the readers know the titanic is going to sink. But there's so much that could have been done with the story despite that. I felt really disappointed when I got to the end and found it had gone down almost exactly as I thought it would. 

The build of tension was really good though. Every chapter has the countdown to the titanic sinking at the start, so you're constantly aware of what the characters are going to have to deal with and questioning whether they'll survive or who will die. I really enjoyed the build up a lot more than the execution. 

The characters were great too. Four different characters from four different walks of life. My favourite was Hinnah, an acrobat who was kicked out from her family, but I also had a fondness for the others too. 

I just wish I hadn't been able to guess the ending so easily. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder for providing me with this copy for review.