REVIEW #75: Also Known As by Robin Benway

Title: Also Known As

Author: Robin Benway

Publisher: Bloomsbury Juvenile US

Release Date: February 26, 2013

Pages: 320, Hardcover

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

 

Maggie is a spy, her parents are spies. They travel around the world and fight crime. Maggie's first solo mission is to get close to Jesse Oliver, the cute son of an influential editor and chief who plans to release an article that could jeopardize the security of the entire organization. Once in Jesse's confidence, Maggie is supposed to locate his father's safe and the source documents, then break in and take them. Piece of cake right? Well Maggie never expected to actually like Jesse Oliver or find such a good friend in Roux. And she never realized how hard it would be to lie to people she started to care about. 

I absolutely loved the tone of this book. Maggie, Jesse, and Roux made quite the cast of characters and provided endless entertainment. They each had unique but warming personalities and strong presence in the story. And their interactions had me giggling on multiple occasions. 

Maggie is so open, honest, and good-humored. It amazed me how she could know so much and yet so little. When it came to international espionage, she was all confidence and grace. "'You could eat these kids for breakfast. You won't, though, because that would be cannibalistic and wrong.'" But when it came to high school, she was a lovely mess. "'Roux said that parties sort of just start. There's no time.' I left out the part where I asked Roux if I should RSVP to the party for both of us or just me, and she stared at me for a full minute before asking if I had been raised in a barn." She was such a refreshing lead and I adored her.

A lot of praise has to go to the secondary characters as well. Roux was just batshit crazy and I loved it. The things that came out of her mouth were hilarious and she added a great dose of unpredictability to the story. Jesse was the ying to Maggie's yang, he could easily match her whit and charm. Together they were just precious and emanated this easygoing, relaxed vibe. Their relationship reminded me a little of that of Hazel and Augustus in TFIOS. 

The story was just tons of fun. I mean, who doesn't love spies? Let alone a spunky and unusual 16 yo girl who has no idea how to be normal. When Maggie isn't trying to juggle high school drama and first kisses she's breaking and entering and chasing down bad guys. It was awesome.

There is nothing not to love about this book. It was an light, fun read that brought a smile to my face. I can't say anything bad about it. I'd definitely recommend it!