Review: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Synopsis/Cover Image from Publisher's Website: 

From New York Times bestselling, National Book Award winning Robin Benway comes a hilarious and romantic series about a normal girl . . . who just so happens to be a spy.

Being a 16-year-old safecracker and active-duty daughter of international spies has its moments, good and bad. Pros: Seeing the world one crime-solving adventure at a time. Having parents with super cool jobs. Cons: Never staying in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend. But for Maggie Silver, the biggest perk of all has been avoiding high school and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple locker combinations.

Then Maggie and her parents are sent to New York for her first solo assignment, and all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the essential information she needs to crack the case . . . all while trying not to blow her cover.

Review: 

A long time ago I read Robin Benway's THE EXTRAORDINARY SECRETS OF APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE and I LOVED it! Seriously, if you haven't read it already go do so immediately! Fast forward all these years later and I'm wondering why I haven't read more by Robin Benway, especially since I even own a few of her books. Ergo, I decided to fix this by reading ALSO KNOWN AS. 

The result? I. LOVE. THIS. BOOK. Adorable, quirky, and suspenseful, ALSO KNOWN AS is a wild adventure from start to finish! I don't think I stopped smiling once when reading, that's just how cute it is!

What I Liked: 

1) The characters - Robin Benway has introduced such a fantastic cast of characters. Maggie, Roux, Angelo, Jessie, and Maggie's parents...I adored them all! What I loved even more, however, was how much they stood on their own. They had their own personalities as well as their own quirks. Maggie, the lead, is my favorite. She's sassy, fearless, and - most importantly - a kick-a$$ spy! Her transition to regular school was hilarious (think Cady's start in Mean Girls but without all the cattiness). Roux, Maggie's best friend, was the perfect side kick. Her sarcastic, tell-it-like-it-is personality had me in in stitches multiple times. Jessie, the love interest, was sweet and nerdy. At first I thought he was going to be the stereotypical rich boy, but there was a lot more to him than that. 

2) Friendship- I feel like friendship in YA isn't nearly as prevalent as should be in YA so I loved seeing such a strong bond between Roux and Maggie. The adventures they went on always had me laughing (especially the party debacle - I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard!), and what I loved even more was that they had their ups and downs, which made their friendship all the more realistic. 

3) Dialogue - It's snappy and quick - think Gilmore Girls. Better yet, I feel like Robin truly captured the voice of teenagers. The conversations flowed naturally. 

4)Present Parents - Like friendship, present parents is sometimes lacking in YA; however, that wasn't the case here! Maggie's parents were supportive, loving, and caring. Sometimes they went a tad nuts, but all in good fun! 

5) The Mystery! (Also SPIES!!) - The mystery was super suspenseful! I never knew quite how it was going to end, and I loved how Robin Benway pulled it all together. There were several times I didn't realize an occurrence was as important as it was. 

5) Romance - Falling in love with your target? Now that's complicated business! The romance between Jessie and Maggie was fantastic! It developed at such a great pace, and I liked how they started off as friends. 

What I Didn't Like: 

1) That it didn't go on forever - No, I'm kidding! Honestly, there's nothing I didn't like about this. 

Overall, ALSO KNOWN AS is a gem! I already have a copy of GOING ROGUE (Book #2) on hand, and I can't wait to start it. Fingers crossed it doesn't suffer from the dreaded sophomore slump! 

Last but not least: If you love Ally Carter's GALLAGHER GIRLS there's a 99.99% chance you love this as well! 

4.5 stars!!

Also Known As is now available! 

Source: Publisher 

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Buy Links: 

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Author Links: 

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Waiting on Wednesday (143)

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

My picks for this week are...

Also Known As by Robin Benway

Believe it or not, there are some drawbacks to being a 16-year old safecracker, daughter of spies, and member of a Robin Hood-esque organization that fights corruption. On the list: never getting to stay in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend, being the only spy ever to have a 10 p.m. curfew, and being sent on assignment to Russia. In the winter. For Maggie Silver, the major perk thus far has been the avoidance of high school, and the accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple Masterlocks on the lockers(If it’s three digits or less, why even bother?). But when Maggie and her parents are sent to New York on a major assignment, though, all of that changes. She’ll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school’s security system, and befriend one aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the information she needs to crack the case, all while trying not to blow her cover.

I loved Robin's The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, and June, and ever since reading it, I've been keeping an eye out for any new releases of hers. Thankfully, the time is finally here, as Also Known As will be released this coming year! It sounds like a super fun read...I mean, safecrackers?! You have to admit that's pretty awesome!

Also Known As will be released February 2013.

Burning by Elana K. Arnold

Ben: Having just graduated from high school, Ben is set to leave Gypsum, Nevada. It's good timing since the gypsum mine that is the lifeblood of the area is closing, shutting the whole town down with it. Ben is lucky: he's headed to San Diego, where he's got a track scholarship at the University of California. But his best friends, Pete and Hog Boy, don't have college to look forward to, so to make them happy, Ben goes with them to check out the hot chick parked on the side of Highway 447.

Lala: She and her Gypsy family earn money by telling fortunes. Some customers choose Tarot cards; others have their palms read. The thousands of people attending the nearby Burning Man festival spend lots of cash--especially as Lala gives uncanny readings. But lately Lala's been questioning whether there might be more to life than her upcoming arranged marriage. And the day she reads Ben's cards is the day that everything changes for her. . . and for him.

This one sounds like it has the potential to be really good, so I'm curious to see how it will turn out. Plus I just adore the cover! It's so summery with all the light.

Burning will be released June 2013.

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

I hugged my sisters and they fit against my sides like two jigsaw pieces that would never fit anywhere else. I couldn’t imagine ever letting them go again, like releasing them would be to surrender the best parts of myself.


Three sisters share a magical, unshakeable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents’ divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood—powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds—everyone’s but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they’ll always have each other.

Because there’s one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.

Review:

From a brilliant premise to spectacular writing to relatable and witty main characters, there leaves no doubt in my voice when I say that The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June is hands down one of the best books of the year.

Each character is crafted in a way that makes them jump right of the page from the start and became a part of you as you see their story unravel in front of you.

I really liked the fact that each stood on their own with their unique personalities. Since, I hate nothing more but when characters in a book, especially one that jumps from narrator to narrator like The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June, all sound the same. Though that was far from the case in this book. April is the smart one, whoever feels the need to be her sister's protector, even if it sometimes get in the way of her own life, while May is the sarcastic and witty loner that forever has you awed by her charm to turn something normal into being something slyly funny. And June? Well, she's basically a girl who wants nothing more to fit and be part of the popular crowd, though there's more than meets the surface to this girl who seemed a bit selfish at the beginning. All three constantly had me and giggles and relating my own life to theirs.

The premise, as mentioned above, in The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June was brilliant, and the execution was even more so. I loved seeing all three girls come to terms with their powers all while trying to find themselves in the new life they have been given. In turn, it provided a page-turning read that was extremely hard to put down, even for a second.

In all, The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June is a book that you should definitely check out this summer, because I have no worries when saying that I'm sure that you'll love and adore it as much as I did.

Grade: A+

The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June will be released August 3, 2010.

Source: Publicist at Penguin.