Tagged by Mara Purnhagen

Summary:

Kate Morgan is just as confused as the rest of her classmates when she arrives at Cleary High to find six life-size gorillas spray painted on the side of a building. Could the culprit be one of her friends or classmates? And is the kind-of-amazing creation really vandalism, or a work of art? She's tempted to stay out of it, mostly because, as the police chief’s daughter, she's always accused of being a snitch. But when gorillas start appearing throughout the state, her investigative instincts kick in.

Now Eli, Kate’s favorite co-worker at the local coffee shop, is MIA. With her best friend, Lan, preoccupied with her own boy troubles, Kate needs to figure out some things on her own. Like why she can’t stop thinking about Eli. And what she will do when all clues about the graffiti point to someone she knows...
 
Review:
 
Tagged was yet another fabulously fun read from Harlequin's new teen line, which leaves me to suspect this line can do no wrong when it comes to choosing titles!

Kate was a interesting and likable character that's voice won me over from the start. I loved that while she did sometimes have her moments of insecurity, she always ended up doing the right thing that was for the most part a brave choice. Plus I enjoyed seeing how close she was to her parents because usually you don't see the parental units too much in YA, much less a good relationship between the protagonist and them. Her best friend Lan was also one of my favorite characters. I liked how Mara issued racial acceptance issues through her character because it gave me a better understand how awful it would feel to have someone judge just because you were a different race from them. Eli was also a great addition and someone who was definitely swoon-worthy even if he did sometimes make some bad choices.

The plot and writing made this is a breezy read with just the right amount of tension, romance, funniness, and reality thrown in. I really enjoyed seeing how the gorilla graffiti sub-plot tied into the plot and created a mysterious atmosphere for most of the book.

In all, Tagged is certainly a debut book to pick up ASAP. I can't wait to read more by Ms. Purnhagen!

Grade: A
 
Tagged is not officially out till March first, but Amazon and Barnes and Noble are already shipping it. By the way, Amazon has a great excerpt from the novel listed on Tagged's page.
 
Source: Netgalley's website for review.