ARC Review: The Frame-Up by Gwenda Bond

Dani Poissant is the daughter and former accomplice of the world’s most famous art thief, as well as being an expert forger in her own right. The secret to their success? A little thing called magic, kept rigorously secret from the non-magical world. Dani’s mother possesses the power of persuasion, able to bend people to her will, whereas Dani has the ability to make any forgery she undertakes feel like the genuine article.

At seventeen, concerned about the corrupting influence of her mother’s shadowy partner, Archer, Dani impulsively sold her mother out to the FBI—an act she has always regretted. Ten years later, Archer seeks her out, asking her to steal a particular painting for him, since her mother’s still in jail. In return, he will reconcile her with her mother and reunite her with her mother’s old gang—including her former best friend, Mia, and Elliott, the love of her life.

The problem is, it’s a nearly impossible job—even with the magical talents of the people she once considered family backing her up. The painting is in the never-before-viewed private collection of deceased billionaire William Hackworth—otherwise known as the Fortress of Art. It’s a job that needs a year to plan, and Dani has just over one week. Worse, she’s not exactly gotten a warm welcome from her former colleagues—especially not from Elliott, who has grown from a weedy teen to a smoking-hot adult. And then there is the biggest puzzle of why Archer wants her to steal a portrait of himself, which clearly dates from the 1890s, instead of the much more valuable works by Vermeer or Rothko. Who is her mother’s partner, really, and what does he want?

The more Dani learns, the more she understands she may be in way over her head—and that there is far more at stake in this job than she ever realized

• Title: The Frame-Up
• Author:  Gwenda Bond
• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication Date: February 13, 2024
• Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Mystery
• Source: Digital ARC via Netgalley
• Targeted Age Range: Adult
• Content Warnings: suicide, incarceration, emotional abuse, strained parental relationships, manipulation
• Rating: ★★

I love a good heist story — How To Steal A Million (1966) is one of my favorite films, and so when I saw the premise of The Frame-Up, I was absolutely stoked. I mean, a magical art heist story, with a second chance romance? What more could a girl ask for? The Frame-Up follows Dani Poissant, art forger, the daughter of one of the world’s most famous art thieves. When we first meet Dani, it’s been ten years since she sold her mother out to the FBI — something that cost her her best friend, her boyfriend — and something she’s regretted since. At twenty seven, Dani’s approached by her mother’s partner, Archer, with a near-impossible task: to steal back a painting of Archer’s, right under the nose of the Hackworth family, and the FBI. To do so, she’ll have to mend her relationships with her old crew, while trying to figure out the real value of the portrait and who Archer really is.

I think my thoughts of The Frame-Up could be summarized in one sentence: I loved the concept, but found the execution to be lacking. I wish I’d gotten to know more about the magic system. I was never entirely clear on how people found out if they had powers, what powers were out there, how powers evolved over time, among other things. I felt like the powers the author had chosen were also quite unusual in comparison to what one might think of when they think of magic powers. I do wonder if a lot of it was chosen for simplicity with the storyline and heist, but also wished that we’d gotten some sort of explanation of how the world worked. I wanted to know more about the backstories of the characters; I was fascinated by Dani, and wanted to know more about her life: How did she spend the last ten years, alone and isolated from her support group, and her family? I felt like I didn’t know a lot about Dani, despite her being the main character, and just felt disconnected from her. I ended The Frame-Up with a lot more unanswered questions than I had going in. 

For a book that’s marketed as a romance, I felt like the romance in The Frame-Up was the weakest bit. The blurb claims that Elliot was the love of Dani’s life, but we don’t get enough substance to believe that. I wish we’d gotten to see more of their shared past, more pining and anticipation, because I quite frankly didn’t really care when the two of them did get together. There was a love triangle that was introduced, but was never quite executed fully either. In all honesty, the only relationship — platonic, romantic, or familial — that I particularly cared about was Dani’s relationship with her dog, Sunflower. I was mildly intrigued by the relationship between Dani and her mother, and felt like there could’ve been a lot to unpack; I wanted to see more about Dani and her former best friend — but ultimately, the only relationship that’s properly developed is the one between Dani and her dog. 

Because the book was underdeveloped, and the pacing was off, I was quite caught off guard when the book suddenly became a book about demons. I think that The Frame-Work wanted to explore complex familial relationships, betrayal, trauma, grief, sexism — and Bond does attempt to, but doesn’t dedicate enough time to do so in a way that’s well executed. After a while, it felt like the original heist wasn’t that important, and the story moved past the original framework. 

Links for The Frame-Up: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop.org